Skyfall
by timexgone23
Summary: Loki/OC: Guinevere was always so sure of the way her life was going to go, however, her entire perspective is changed upon being forcibly added to the Avengers during the Tesseract conflict. After the invasion things quickly change and she realizes that everything she thought she was is nothing close to what she ever imagined.
1. Guinevere Havoc

_Skyfall ©_timexgone23_  
The Avengers_ ©Marvel Comics

~0~

**Summary:** Guinevere was always so sure of the way her life was going to go, however, her entire perspective is changed upon being forcibly added to the Avengers during the Tesseract conflict. After the invasion things quickly change and she realizes that everything she thought she was is nothing close to what she ever imagined.

**Disclaimer: **I am a poor college grad and am receiving no payment whatsoever to write this fiction. If I was, in fact, getting paid for this, I would not be a poor college graduate that I can assure you. All rights are reserved to Marvel, D.C. Comics, and Walt Disney Pictures and Columbia Studios as well as the amazing screenwriters, directors and producers, and actors who created this film. I only own the subplot as well as Guinevere Havoc, David Havoc, Maryellen Havoc, Arthur Havoc and any other unrecognizable character throughout the plot.

**Story Type: **OC-Insert

**Pairing: **Eventual Loki/OC

**Other Pairings: **TBA

**Rating: **M

**Warning: **Character death, violence, suggestive themes and light vulgarity.

**Author's Note: **Hello and welcome to my new baby! This has really helped me bring up my writing inspiration once more :) For those who have read my other stories, you know I've been suffering terribly from writers block and computer issues. Good news is I no longer have writers block and I have a new laptop! Bad news is it's still going to be rather slow for updates on my other stories until I get around to revamping, editing and figuring out where I had originally intended them to go. For those who haven't read my stories before, welcome and I hope you enjoy this particular story :) Just a word to the wise: updates for this will be a little slower as I intend on editing and revamping where necessary as I upload chapters for this story, among other things. Also, this is merely to get me back into the swing of writing so if you have any constructive criticism feel free to leave it for me in a review, just keep in mind that a lot of this story, while based particularly in the Avengers timeline, is something that I'm taking liberties with my creative authority on so not everything will follow the movie and not everything will follow Marvel's movieverse as I'm honestly at a loss as to where they're going other than incorporating The Collector and Thanos…eventually. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Much Love,  
timexgone23

Without further adieu, on with the FIC!

* * *

_Skyfall  
The Avengers  
01_

Her knee bounced from where she sat with her arms crossed across her chest and her body slouched in the chair with an air of both irritability and defeat. Her copper tresses fell in deep layers around her small shoulders making her look smaller than she actually was; the holes in her clothes, the dirt smudges on the fabric and her skin alike, gave way to her having been through something determinedly not pleasant. She glared around the room, taking care to study the armed guards to her left and stationed before the door leading out of the room she was in.

She had been surprised she had not been handcuffed or even detained properly; however, they probably figured she would not try to run at this point. She had evaded their hold for a long time, but she had not been anticipating them coming after her with their top agents. The only thing that they had done was place her in a room with nothing more than a desk, two chairs and a clock. The only windows to be found was the one at the door where the guards stood, their hands on their rifles as a reminder that she was in captivity and not the other way around. Not that she wanted to escape any more than they wanted a problem at this particular point.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was tired. She was tired of running and tired of trying to contain herself and tired of attempting to stay hidden. She had always had a strange skill set and it had only gotten progressively worse throughout the years. Perhaps that was why she found herself sitting in a reinforced room with armed guards staring her down. She did not seem to mind the stares, she knew for a fact she looked terrible and she looked much younger than she was. Looking down at her bloodied knuckles, she frowned. They had spared her no time to be treated for her health or injuries that their agents had inflicted upon her detainment, but it only served to remind her not to trust a word these people told her.

Her musings were cut short by the unlocking of the door and she frowned upon looking at the suit that had walked in, along with what she only assumed was the man responsible for her capture in the first place. The suit was a tall, fair skinned man with thinning light brown hair and kind blue eyes. He wore a pleasant smile on his face, despite the rather intimidating man looming behind him, and held a file under his arm. The badge on the inside of his jacket told her that he was an agent just as much as the ones who had detained her were and her guard immediately rose. The second man had dark skin and roughish features accompanied by a patch over his right eye with the tell-tale scars leading up his forehead and down his cheek expressing how he may have lost his eye in the first place. He wore all black and a trench coat, the badge and pistol on his hip did not go unnoticed by her and she frowned, turning her eyes to the other man as he sat down.

"Miss Havoc, a pleasure to meet you."

She withheld her snort of discontent and simply leveled him with an icy stare, "Why am I here?"

"Well," The agent began as he took the seat across from her and laid the file on the table. She did not need to look at it to know it belonged to her. "You're a person of interest."

"Why?"

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson, Miss Havoc and I –"

"I didn't ask for your name, nor do I care for it, why am I here?"

Silence filled the small room, the atmosphere tense and despite her eyes holding Coulson's she had noticed that the guards' fingers had moved closer to the triggers of their rifles as had the more menacing looking man that stood off to the left of the agent before her.

The man only sighed, his eyes softening and looking sympathetic, "Miss Havoc, I understand things are confusing right now, but please, we need you to cooperate with us. We could help you."

She only scoffed, "_Help me_…Is that why you've been chasing me down the last four years and why, when your agents finally were able to catch up with me, engaged me in an unfair fight and brought me here against my will?" It was the first time she moved and it was only to sit up straighter in her seat, "I was living peacefully and working a good job, until you and your organization decided that I was more important than criminals that are wreaking havoc upon the world. No, why detain someone who _actually _deserves it. But that would make _sense_ wouldn't it?"

"Guinevere Havoc, age 25, daughter of known bioengineer David Havoc and known as subject 87563 –"

The young woman withheld a snarl and instead leveled her eyes at the man behind Coulson, who she decidedly did not care for upon looking at him, "You think reading things I already know are going to give me a reason to tell you anything? I'm more than aware of what you're trying to do Mr. Fury."

"Well, then…" Fury drew off as he stepped up besides the other agent who frowned in disapproval, his once light and pleasant expression completely gone from his features, "How is it you know so much about _me_?"

"When you begin to notice that all of your information is being collected, you tend to do the same. I like to call it _leveling the playing field_." She frowned as she leveled the man with a disapproving glare. "Call it what you will, but for being a secret governmental organization you guys have terrible amounts of antiquated security on your computers."

Fury and Coulson looked to one another before the director turned back to look at her, "You're quite the danger to yourself and others, Miss Havoc; therefore we are forced to contain you unless you are willing to aide us."

"I'm listening," Guinevere frowned at the man, "But I don't see how I'm a probable cause of harm when I haven't committed any crimes nor have there been reports of me hurting anyone…maybe records of people being freaked out, but other than that you have no traction nor the right to hold me here. I would make your story count because if I don't like what I hear I am leaving and if necessary I will make sure you or your agents can't follow me."

"Is that a threat?"

She leveled him with a steely glare, her eyes conveying her intent indefinitely, "It's a promise, Mr. Fury."

Coulson cleared his throat, drawing attention away from the staring contest that had begun in wake of her declaration and especially her eyes. "If I may propose, Miss Havoc, we have a need for your abilities…are you familiar with the artifact known as the Tesseract?"

Guinevere paused for a moment before frowning in thought. Yes, she had heard of it while hanging around her father and his associates while she was still attending college as an undergraduate as it was something her father had found fascinating at one point and had asked her to look into it. Inevitably she wasn't able to find too much on the subject and hypothesized that any documents regarding it would have probably been destroyed after the gods allegedly left the Earth and merely told her father that there wasn't anything she could look into as it clearly didn't exist. A simple answer to keep her father from asking about it as she did not want to be mixed up in any other experiments, hence her intolerance with science in general. It was strange to her that they would be interested in such an artifact as there was not too much known of it, only that it emitted low gamma radiation equivalent to that of a small sun and in lore acted as a portal between worlds. Shaking her thoughts she returned her eyes to Coulson and nodded slowly, "I have, but only in passing…why is this something that you're interested in, if I may ask?"

"Classified," Fury nearly hissed earning a glower from the young woman.

"If you want my help, then perhaps you should change your tune, Mr. Fury."

Coulson ran a hand over his face as the two once again attempted to stare the other down. Clearly this explanation was going to take much longer than he had first anticipated. When Natasha had told him she had put up one hell of a fight and had taken down nearly half of the men with her, he had known that she would be hard to persuade as she clearly did not want to be there. Then again, he wasn't anticipating a pissing contest between the director and young woman. "In an effort to keep us on track," He began with a sigh and once again drawing her eyes to him, "The Tesseract was found frozen with Captain America and we've been researching it ever since…to be honest, we're not entirely sure of what it does –"

"It was stolen before we could find out what it officially does."

She regarded both men carefully before rubbing her dirt-smudged forehead and sighing in what sounded like defeat, "It's a portal…or at least that's what I remember reading when I was in my undergrad." Guinevere supplied simply at the accusing look Fury had given her before her expression and tone had become dry and deadpanned, "I was a history major with a focus in ancient and extinct civilizations and went as far as to minor in ancient literature and lore, which I'm sure you both already knew otherwise I wouldn't have been any more use to you other than another lab rat."

Coulson nodded, "So you know more than you let on."

"I let you think that I wasn't aware," Guinevere shook her head and holding up her forefinger to affirm her correction, "I most certainly am aware of what it could do, but you've yet to answer why you were looking into it."

Fury leaned on the table and glared at her fiercely, "As mentioned before, it's classified."

"Say it actually was _classified_, as you say, what would you need it for? And I still don't understand what this has to do with me helping you."

"We were in the process of researching it when the Tesseract suddenly started activating on its own. Soon after our facility was compromised the portal ejected a man who stole it from us after attacking and taking control of our men and one of our best agents…"

The woman nodded slowly as Coulson explained, her mind working quickly in an effort to draw conclusions. Coulson looked up at her and sighed deeply, his eyes pleading with her to accept their offer and to help them out. Guinevere thought he looked like a puppy with that expression.

"As we speak, our agents are in the process of scrounging up extraordinary individuals, such as yourself, to aid us in the endeavor to retrieve the Tesseract." The agent explained, "Captain Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark…all to help us stop this world domination from happening."

"And if I refuse to help?" Guinevere frowned softly, watching both men's faces for any sign of what their true intentions were. "What happens to me if I decide that I don't want to help you and I can list at least thirteen so far –"

"We're asking you because you _can_ help." Fury interrupted, his eye seemingly softening around the edges, but not making Guinevere like him any more than she already did, "You have some strange psychic powers that can help save hundreds of lives and stop a madman from taking over the world, and you're questioning _why_?"

Guinevere frowned deeply, her arms tightening over her small chest in a clear effort to keep herself in control rather than to protect herself, "I have my _obvious_ reasons, Mr. Fury. And I'd like to inform you that I'm not psychic…at all, so you may wish to reevaluate your sources."

"Nothing would happen to you…" Coulson interrupted as the director made to rebuke her comment, "We'd only be keeping tabs on you to make sure you're in control of yourself."

Guinevere considered this or a moment before sighing deeply, "So basically I'd never go back to living a normal life either way you try and scratch it." Coulson and Fury knew that she was not asking a question rather than stating the obvious. Both watched in tense silence as the woman considered her options. After a few moments, she released the tension in her arms and allowed them to rest on the table, "I'll help, but I have terms that I'd like to lay out beforehand."

"Of course!"

She regarded the now overly enthusiastic agent before frowning up at Fury, though she commented to Coulson first, "You're writing these down, Agent Coulson, because both you and Mr. Fury are going to sign it afterwards." It took a moment for the agent to pull out a pen and paper and earning a dirty look from the director, who had turned his eyes away from hers only briefly. "I am not, nor will I ever be, a member of S.H.I.E.L.D and therefore will not be treated as an agent, but as a person who is merely helping out the cause. I do not take orders unless the situation calls for it, which will be determined by myself. I am not to be tracked, _at all_, during or after my help is granted and finally I will need full clearance to information surrounding the project so I may help to the fullest capacity. Any failure to comply means me walking out the front door, Director Fury, and I would not push your luck as I can hold you on several counts of kidnapping, abuse and trauma."

Fury glared at her before nodding his consent. Guinevere simply nodded and signed her name after Coulson signed as witness to the impromptu contract before turning the paper towards the larger man. After another moment of staring at one another for a few more moments, Fury signed his name.

He had never anticipated leaning towards her so willingly, but she was right in her own way that she could technically have his ass handed to her on a silver platter. Then again, he did not mind the idea of this woman on the team as he was sure she would be able to keep the others in line.

"Welcome aboard Miss Havoc…we'll have accommodations for you shortly."

Guinevere only smirked, "Of course."

* * *

So there we have it! The very beginning to my story. I know it's probably not as good as it could be, but first chapters are always the most difficult to get through without making a complete flop. I hope you enjoyed Guinevere's character as well...she'll develop further in the future, just give her time, I promise :D Any who, as policy remains on ALL of my fictions **Reviews are lovely and appreciated, but not mandatory for an update** :) I love to hear from all of my readers so please feel free to drop me either review or a PM. Since I'm a recent college graduate I have more time than I deem appropriate in between submitting resumes and not thinking about how much money I owe to the government, so I shouldn't have a hard time replying to messages or reviews, so drop 'em to me!

Much love,

timexgone23


	2. A Conflict of Interests

_Skyfall ©_timexgone23  
_The Avengers ©_Marvel Comics

~0~

**Summary:** Guinevere was always so sure of the way her life was going to go, however, her entire perspective is changed upon being forcibly added to the Avengers during the Tesseract conflict. After the invasion things quickly change and she realizes that everything she thought she was is nothing close to what she ever imagined.

**Disclaimer: **I am a poor college grad and am receiving no payment whatsoever to write this fiction. If I was, in fact, getting paid for this, I would not be a poor college graduate that I can assure you. All rights are reserved to Marvel, D.C. Comics, and Walt Disney Pictures and Columbia Studios as well as the amazing screenwriters, directors and producers, and actors who created this film. I only own the subplot as well as Guinevere Havoc, David Havoc, Maryellen Havoc, Arthur Havoc and any other unrecognizable character throughout the plot.

**Story Type: **OC-Insert

**Pairing: **Eventual Loki/OC

**Other Pairings: **TBA

**Rating: **M

**Warning: **Character death, violence, suggestive themes and light vulgarity.

**Author's Note: **Whew. So here is chapter 2 for you all :D I know the first chapter left little to review on so I decided to post this one a little earlier than anticipated lol. I'll keep this one short, sweet, simple and to the point so that you can get right into the meat of things.

**Special thanks to:** _Splendors of a Landslide_ for her review!

_Splendors of a Landslide - _Yay! I'm so happy you like Guinevere's character so far :D To be honest, I was a little on the fence when writing her character because her personality is the opposite of mine so I wasn't so sure how it was going to come out, lol. But I'm glad you like her so far. And yeah, new story to hopefully rekindle my writing streak...with any hope this will lead to a reboot on my other fictions ;D And thanks so much for the congrats! I'll admit that I don't really know what I'm gonna do now that I don't have school in my life...I feel like I'm going through a midlife crisis lmao, but I digress! Anyway thank you so much for your review and I hope you enjoy this next chapter :D

So without further adieu, ON WITH THE FIC!

Much love,  
timexgone23

* * *

_Skyfall  
The Avengers  
02_

Coulson was quick to show the woman to her new quarters as well as provide her with clothing of her choosing and informing her that she would need to be in the main hangar in fifteen minutes for briefing and she had nodded simply. Guinevere was unimpressed and sighed deeply, not at all fond of the idea that she was now being held within a floating aircraft carrier that served as S.H.I.E.L.D's mobile headquarters, but she knew when to cut her losses and suck it up.

Her first order of business was to take a well deserved shower, which was attached to the room that they had placed her in, clearly a temporary room. With a brief roll of her eyes she moved into the bathroom. One thing Guinevere took care in was that she did not take more than necessary of anything, keeping her time in the shower short only cleaning the grime off of her skin revealing the light bronzing that was hidden beneath dirt and washing her hair and face, mindful of every scratch she had accumulated in the fight with S.H.I.E.L.D's agents. A brief smile flickered to her lips as she recalled how easy it had been to take most of them out before that redheaded woman had come out of nowhere. She was positive she would run into her once more and definitely intended on returning the rather nasty scratch along her cheek which was settled into a bruise that had quickly formed after the fight, though she chastised herself for her wishful thinking. The woman had annihilated her in close combat.

Making quick work of her process she dressed and fishtail-braided her hair away from her face tightly, allowing the tail to fall over her shoulder and rest against her flattened chest thanks to the sports bra and layers she had been supplied. The outfit that Coulson had managed to find her was practical; a pair of loose fitting cargo pants, typical of the male specific S.H.I.E.L.D uniform, and tall combat boots and a simple loose white shirt with a wide neck, leaving the tattoo on her right forearm in view as well as exposing part of another tattoo that she had on the top of her left shoulder. She took the gauze left for her and began wrapping her bruised and scabbed over knuckles, bandaging only where else was necessary before leaving her room and roaming around the large mobile headquarters.

Guinevere was quiet by nature and had a bad tendency of sneaking up on people without realizing. She blamed her other half for this particular trait, but it did have its benefits. Shaking her thoughts she moved through the door, glancing briefly at the guards on either side of the door before noticing Coulson standing at a large conference table accompanied by who she could only assume was what they had managed to gather of the Avengers. At the sound of the door opening, Coulson turned and smiled widely at her, "Glad those clothes fit you! Sorry about the pants, I know they're a bit bigger than you had asked for but –"

"It's fine, Mr. Coulson, I appreciate it."

After affirming her statement with a smile, she turned her eyes to survey the room she stood in. Clearly it was the bridge of the ship, multiple computers lined the walls and floor, a large wall of windows allowing natural light to spill into the room and conserve energy. Agents shuffled through constantly, completing their jobs which Guinevere deduced was the search for the Tesseract or the thief, whichever they managed to find first. She then turned to the table centered behind Fury and showing two men and the woman who had detained her watching her just as intensely.

Her brow arched at the look the redheaded woman was giving her, a frown marring her plump lips, "They already let you out of interrogation?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Guinevere commented with a lazy shrug of her thin shoulders, her tone underlining her lack of enthusiasm with her situation, "I do have to say you've got a mean right hook though."

"You mean you detained her?" The dark haired man inquired. Her eyes met the deep brown of his and offered him a small smile, her lips quirking slightly in what she hoped was a friendly gesture. However, he was seemingly ignored as the woman leveled her with a stoic stare, her blue-green eyes locking onto her hazel ones and expressing her disinterest in the younger woman.

"And you took out half of my team with that other form of yours."

"Other form?"

Guinevere turned her eyes to the man and waved her hand flippantly in a noncommittal gesture, "Not exactly important." She then turned her eyes to Fury as he cleared his throat.

"Miss Havoc, I'd like you to meet Captain Steve Rogers," He gestured to the rather awe-struck man with neatly combed blonde hair. She remembered her father being obsessed with him when she was a child and nodded to him politely. "Dr. Bruce Banner," She nodded to the man who had questioned her earlier before Fury then gestured to the redheaded woman who had detained her, "and Agent Natasha Romanov. Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Guinevere Havoc and she has…_agreed_ to assist us in regaining the Tesseract."

"Pleasure," She commented dryly as she crossed her arms over her chest and unknowingly drawing eyes to her bandaged hands. "So, what did I miss?"

"I was _just_ informing Dr. Banner as to why he is here," Fury commented, his eye glaring at her before he returned his eye to the Hulk. "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Banner only frowned slightly, highly disbelieving of anything that the S.H.I.E.L.D director was telling him and for good reason. He had not gone into seclusion for no reason, in fact, after the events in Harlem, all he really wanted was to live the rest of his life in a remote area and in peace.

"Where are you on that?"

Fury turned to Coulson to explain. Natasha's faraway look to the monitor, showing the image of a rather handsome man that Guinevere didn't recognize, was ignored, but did not miss the younger woman's eyes. What had they not told her about this mission that they should have?

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

The Russian sighed heavily, "That's still not gonna find them in time."

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

Fury frowned, "How many are there?"

Bruce folded his jacket, "Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."

"Not to sound absolutely ignorant to what you're talking about," Guinevere interjected, "but who exactly are we looking for?" It seemed as if every head in the room turned to look at her and she blushed in embarrassment, though she kept her face as blank as she could, catching the redhead's disbelieving look and frowning, "What? It's not like Fury told me _anything _regarding this Tesseract business." She grumbled defensively as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Have you ever heard of Loki of Asgard?"

She turned her eyes to Coulson and nodded her head slowly, "I read about the Norse gods in college and had written my thesis about them, why?"

Steve only frowned, "He's the one who stole the Tesseract."

"And you were going to tell me this _when_?" Her tone was dangerous as she looked between Fury and Coulson, Natasha's brow arched in disbelief as she looked to the Director and Bruce even looked suspicious, Steve's brows were furrowed in confusion, but portrayed no other emotion except, perhaps, annoyance. Fury went to speak, but the smaller woman was clearly beyond reasoning, "I told you that I was to have _all _information regarding the situation at hand otherwise my ass would be walking out that door. Now, I suggest you start talking or I'm hijacking one of your thousand dollar jets and I'm going back home." The bridge was silent with her words and she frowned, her eyes lightening to appear almost amber-like in color, a clear sign that her anger was at a peek. "I only agreed to help you because it meant me being able to have some semblance of freedom to do as I pleased, and because you left me with little choice, so a briefing, with _all the details_, would be nice."

It took nearly ten minutes to bring Guinevere up to speed and she pinched the skin between her eyes in an effort to stave off the headache that was quickly beginning to form. Steve watched her intently. It was clear that her help was not voluntary like his had been, if her reluctance to divulge on her own knowledge was any indication. She had simply brushed off Fury's questions throughout the length of his explanation of what had occurred and the possible dangers that could arise from it. Steve knew firsthand that the Tesseract was something that was not meant for human hands, which had been why he had taken the nosedive into the arctic as he had.

"The Tesseract, Fury, is a portal in and of itself – this, you already were well aware of." She lamented with a sigh, her posture expressing that she was rather overwhelmed. "Magic, is what I know it as, and any argument you make telling me that isn't is null and void as it has been clearly proven that there are other worlds besides ours within the cosmos…if the incident in New Mexico a little less than a year ago is any evidence of that. I never told my father about the Tesseract because he's a greedy man, despite being a civil activist. He had intended to use it to break down biodegradable composition, including that of human beings. In my younger years he had been more interested in the artifact than I had as it had come up during my research in college. I hid my knowledge from him in an effort to keep him from looking for it because of the immense power that it contains."

"What are we looking at exactly?"

Guinevere turned her eyes to Bruce to see that he was clearly following her explanation where the others seemed slightly lost. "We're looking at something that not only can give us sustainable energy, an unlimited source of power as the Director has found out based on the little information that Dr. Selvig was able to confirm, but is extremely dangerous. The Tesseract is an artifact of other worlds…it's not meant for us to understand, no matter how many years you study it, or test it."

Fury frowned deeply, "And you found this out simply through research?"

"Essentially," She affirmed with a small shrug, "I'm a magical being; it's engrained in our very existence, our genetic structure, to understand the powers that go above human comprehension. Consider it like the X-gene that Dr. Charles Xavier discovered back in the late sixties…Magic is not something that is taught, but discovered as it's a dormant, and sometimes, recessive gene. It is coded within DNA. As I informed you during your interrogation of me, I'm not a psychic. I'm a being known to many as a _Familiar_."

Natasha stood from her crouched position and crossed her arms, "Is that how you were able to change?"

"Yes," She answered simply. "I am literally what you would call _extraterrestrial_ in that my comprehension of things is leagues and bounds higher than any of yours, no offense, it's merely facts. Your minds aren't formatted to understand magic and phenomenon that cannot be explained." She waved her hand at the offended looks that had crossed the members of the conversation before sighing. She had not spoken this much about herself since she first found out that she was far from normal as a child. This part of her past did little to bother her, as she preferred to be alone and she attested this to her more feline aptitude. With a sigh and a shake of her head she continued, "Familiars are not able to use their own magic unless they have been introduced or assigned a charge, or find themselves in danger."

Steve crossed his arms, his brows furrowed deeply over his blue eyes, "This sounds a lot like witchcraft to me."

"You would know it from stories of witchcraft, yes, but we have been around for much longer…almost going back to the gods themselves."

Steve frowned at the smaller woman, "So, Guinevere, I can see why the Director brought you in, but what else can you contribute?" She only graced him with a disbelieving look before rolling her eyes and turning to look at the Director, as if waiting for him to explain.

"She's also here not only bringing knowledge of the Tesseract and what we're exactly up against, but she managed to hack into our system with little effort and so she'll be used as tech support and will be helping Dr. Banner with whatever he needs."

Guinevere was not a fool and knew that the explanation, while enough to satisfy the Captain, was a direct and underlining order to her as well. _Of course I'd have no choice,_ she frowned before rubbing the back of her neck and looking to the rather timid man to see that he was shifting rather uncomfortably. She had read about the doctor turning into a large green mutant that had been dubbed the _Hulk_ due to his continued exposure to high amounts of gamma radiation – though the specifics she was unsure of. She was perfectly aware of what had happened in Harlem and she was smart enough not to bring it to light. Despite the adrenaline kick that activated the Hulk, she was sure that she would get along famously with the doctor, finding that his work was quite fascinating despite her venomous dislike of science. Shaking her head of her thoughts, she turned to look at Bruce before nodding and moving to stand next to him.

Bruce looked down at the shorter woman and sighed before looking back up at Fury, "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?" Natasha stood from her spot, but not before Fury turned his eye on the rather small woman, "Miss Havoc, you will be joining him."

Guinevere only nodded, ignoring as Natasha spoke specifically to Bruce about how much he would enjoy the new equipment. Her mind was currently absent, muddled with thoughts of what outcomes could possibly stem from the coming of Loki, God of Mischief, of Chaos, the Silver Tongue, the Master of Lies. She was able to draw up an immediate two: either the team wins, or Loki wins, but the further she contemplated the more grey she began to notice and the more the solids blended into neutrals. Guinevere was no fool and she understood that she was a quickly developing grey area the further her internal, ethical debate delved. She held no desire to become a part of the nonsense that S.H.I.E.L.D wove in their consistent web of lies, however, her initial concern was what the organization was clearly hiding. She was also aware that speaking her thoughts at the current time was unreasonable, but her gut was beginning to gather and twist in knots that stemmed from some of her infinitely bad feelings. Why else would Fury be so desperate to retrieve the Tesseract?

Bruce threw looks at the young woman from his peripherals as they followed the Russian assassin down the wide hallway, their shoes echoing in the current silence, though he noticed Guinevere's footsteps did not have the same sound as Natasha's which were light with her training. It almost appeared as if she floated down the hallway, but the way her body moved was more likened to that of a cat – a slinking motion she seemed to do without conscious thought or purpose. She was petite, small and compact with a lithe frame and lean muscle definition. Her copper hair was tied away from her face, save the thick bangs that swept from her hairline to curtain her forehead and rest against her cheekbone, making her round face appear more angular and highlighting the slight dusting of freckles that seemed to blemish her bronzed skin. Her eyes were a bright hazel green that appeared like a forest or almost golden depending on the light and currently her eyes were the former with her clouded thoughts. The doctor was unsure as to what her true purpose was to the whole situation, but he was content enough to keep an eye on her; clearly if she was deemed a threat she would not have been placed within his vicinity.

Natasha dropped them off at the lab and immediately Bruce began his calculations, briefly noticing that Guinevere merely stepped through the threshold before looking around in both uncertainty and thinly veiled disgust. The doctor decided to attempt to break the ice with her as she did not seem unfriendly, maybe just a bit out of place, "The lab not your first choice of a college hangout?"

"I didn't really _hang out_ in college…" She murmured as she looked around tentatively, "I was too busy with a book to really manage to socialize and my strange superhuman abilities and superior intellect didn't exactly make me a fan favorite."

Bruce chuckled at her thinly veiled sarcasm, her tone rather dry and expression deadpanned. "What were you doing before this?" He noticed out of the corner of her eye that she had stumbled upon a pair of six-gauged needles and backed away in what he recognized was slight discomfort and barely hidden terror, so much so that she had to physically shake her head to bring herself back to reality it seemed. "I mean," He began to clarify as an attempt to ignore the reaction, "before S.H.I.E.L.D recruited you?"

Guinevere shot him a thankful smile for not bringing up her rather violent reaction to the needles she had stumbled upon, it was a childish fear she had yet to completely get over. "Well, I was just about to walk with my graduating class this weekend, but I suppose it's a little bit late for that. I was a history major with a focus in ancient and extinct civilizations and went as far as to minor in ancient literature and lore and then in my graduate studies I focused specifically in global studies. It seemed like a good idea at the time." She shrugged. "Before S.H.I.E.L.D was so _kind_ to pluck me from my normal life, I was working in a museum."

"Where'd they find you?"

"Bridgeport, Connecticut." When Bruce shot her an incredulous look she shrugged again, "They have an extremely extensive World Religions program and Global Studies program. I graduated from Princeton in my undergrad and went to the University of Bridgeport for my masters; it seemed like a good idea at the time."

Bruce only smirked, "And your dad let you do it?"

"Well…he was a bit _reluctant_, but he owed me quite a lot so the very least he could've done with his existence is put his only child through higher education."

Bruce barely looked up at her, noting immediately the clear end of the conversation and sighed to himself. He wanted to trust the younger woman since they were going to be spending much time together in the foreseeable future and Bruce wanted to make sure that, given the opportunity, she did not try something stupid enough to anger the beast inside of him. That and the poor girl seemed completely and totally out of her element, almost appearing a little awed and fragile when she had first managed to step onto the bridge that afternoon.

"You'll get used to the surroundings, by the way."

Guinevere looked up from one of the screens she was fiddling with to stare at the man, a trimmed brow arching delicately, though she appreciated the turn of conversation. "I suppose…to be honest though, I'd much rather be home watching my disgustingly boring sitcoms and trashy reality TV." When the man laughed she could not help the smile that stretched across her lips.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find something to do in your downtime."

"You watch Cake Boss?" When he shook his head she gaped at him, "Big Bang Theory? Hell's Kitchen? How I Met Your Mother? Dance Moms? Modern Family? King of Queens? Numbers? _Nothing!?_ At least tell me you've seen that HGTV show where they repair different parts of a person's house?" He had shaken his head to _every _show she mentioned.

Bruce only looked up at her with a brow arched, "I've been in Calcutta for the last few years."

"You have _no _idea what you're missing!" Guinevere cried, effectively scandalized and earning another laugh from the doctor, "You know what? We're going to remedy this right now! I think out of all of these you'd appreciate the _Big Bang Theory_ the most."

The man only sighed in defeat, clearly this woman was nowhere near letting him begin his findings until he conceded with her demands, though it was a nice change to the more stoic and neurotic behavior she had shown him the last hour or so. "What's it about?" He rolled his eyes good naturedly when she threw her hands up in the air and danced in victory.

"Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper are both brilliant physicists working at Caltech in Pasadena, California. They are colleagues, best friends, and roommates; although in all capacities their relationship is always tested primarily by Sheldon's regimented, deeply eccentric, and non-conventional ways. They are also friends with their Caltech colleagues: mechanical engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali. They're self-professed nerds, all have little or no luck with popular women. When Penny, a pretty woman and an aspiring actress originally from Omaha, moves into the apartment across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon's, Leonard has another aspiration in life, namely to get Penny to be his girlfriend."

"Sounds wonderful."

"Oh, it is." Guinevere grinned, "I've memorized the entire synopsis. It's a great show and the physics jokes are not only funny, but well placed and appropriate."

"I'll take your word for it."

"You've got no other choice," She smiled, "Fury stuck me in the lab as tech support…there's not much else I can do unless he pulls me away for something else."

Bruce chuckled, shaking his head, "Oh woe is you."

"Egads it's so sad."

Bruce paused in his tinkering, his eyes watching as she used the monitor to search for the show she had mentioned and his brow rose, "Did you just speak in Shakespearean English?"

"Higher level of intellect," She answered without looking at him. "It's a gift and a curse unfortunately. I'm awesome for Shakespearean theater and analyzed his work my freshman year in undergrad so it comes easy to me. It also doesn't help that I prefer older literature to modern literature and theory over erotica." She tinkered more with her screen before pausing, looking at the wall before her, "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."

He only laughed before going back to trying to calibrate a tracking algorithm for the Tesseract, finding that the more he searched the more labs had responded positively to Fury's orders that had technically been his own. It made his job much easier in the long run and knew that if he was able to bounce his frequency off of the labs he may be able to find the Tesseract before the week was out. A thought suddenly struck him and he looked up at the copper haired woman to see she was apparently lost in sudden thought as her finger hovered over the screen. He quirked a brow and waited for her to move once more before addressing her once more.

"Guinevere –"

"You're welcome to call me Gwen, it makes life easier."

Ignoring her interruption he continued, "What can you tell me about the Tesseract?" He stumbled over his words as she turned to look at him with a clearly annoyed expression, having explained it earlier and clearly not happy to repeat herself again. "What I mean is: did anything you ever read tell you how much radiation the Tesseract could produce?"

Her features relaxed into one of thought and he heaved a quiet sigh of relief that he had not angered the woman. Guinevere frowned for a moment in an attempt to recall the information she knew. "Well, from what I've managed to read before all of this happened, it's said that the Tesseract emits gamma rays that are similar to that of a sun or solar flare…or a star, depending on how you look at it. But –"

"But?" He edged in an attempt to prompt her to continue her thought as she seemed to draw off, her eyes once again unseeing.

"It has properties that go far beyond that. If you're asking me to tell you how to track it then you'll need to pick up on a signature of gamma rays that are similar to a summer day…it's a low-dose radiation that allows it to remain hidden from humankind." Bruce's brows furrowed deeply, noticing that her eyes had become glassy as if she was speaking from firsthand experience, but he knew it was unlikely, though it did nothing to ease his growing concern. "It's a terrible artifact really."

"And you know this how?"

Guinevere turned her eyes to him and frowned slightly, "If you forget, Bruce, I'm still extraterrestrial and therefore above the higher comprehension of things that people consider to be false. As I said on the bridge merely an hour ago, I'm a being of magic – well more like a relic really since Familiars are not as adept at using magic as other beings, but I digress." She paused as if to recollect what she had been saying before she had gone off on her small tangent before speaking once more, "I have a higher sense of things that are absolutely and horrendously dangerous as I have primitive animal instincts. The Tesseract is one of those magical artifacts that hold terrible power when used for the wrong purposes and even the correct ones." She explained, her annoyance with repeating herself clear on her face, but her voice was toned on patience, "There are thousands of magical relics spread across Earth and for those who utilize magic in its purest forms it's merely another souvenir to be collected. The Tesseract, ironically enough, is both not of this world and the most powerful of these relics."

Bruce stopped his fiddling with his monitor and pushed it out of his way so he could stare at her, removing his glasses from the bridge of his nose. They both ignored as the door to the lab opened and Steve popped in, glancing between the two of them. It was clear he had caught enough of their conversation to understand it was about the Tesseract and that Guinevere knew more than she had allowed them to realize earlier.

"I don't understand."

"I don't expect you to," She shook her head slowly, whether to hide her exasperation or to stave her weariness to explaining magic, Bruce was unsure. "Magic is singularly the most abstract of all creative forms and of science. As I've said before, my comprehension is automatically higher than that of a typical person because I utilize magic as a Familiar. It's the weakest form of magical beings, but we're devastatingly useful to other magic users if we're taken."

"So you would be considered a magical relic, correct?"

She nodded, "Yes, I believe I have said that already."

Steve crossed his arms over his chest, "Wait, I'm confused…how much do you know about the Tesseract?"

"Well," She paused, her hand on her hip and her hazel eyes turned upwards in thought as she pursed her lips, "According to what I know _factually_, based on research, it was discovered by Johann Schmidt in a box behind _Níðhöggr_ in a sculptured mural of _Yggdrasil_, in a church full of Viking warriors entombed within its walls. It was used then in an attempt to build weapons and was later fished out of the ocean by Howard Stark." She ignored the shock written on Steve's face as she continued. "If we want to go by Norse legend, which is what I know best, it belonged to Odin, son of Bor, the Allfather and King of Asgard, and was lost during the last age of worship by men on Earth. _Níðhöggr_ is a dragon who gnaws at a root of the World Tree, _Yggdrasil_. In historical Viking society, _níð_ was a term for a social stigma implying the loss of honor and the status of a villain. Thus, its name might refer to its role as a horrific monster or in its action of chewing the corpses of the inhabitants of _Náströnd_: those guilty of murder, adultery, and oath-breaking, which Norse society considered among the worst possible crimes…hence why _Níðhöggr_ appears at the very bottom of the tree and gnawing at its roots.

"The _Yggdrasil_ is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology, in connection to which the nine worlds exist. _Yggdrasil_ is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both sources, _Yggdrasil_ is an immense ash tree that is central and considered very holy. The branches of _Yggdrasil_ extends far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations; one to the well, _Urðarbrunnr_, in the heavens, one to the spring, _Hvergelmir_, and another to the well, _Mímisbrunnr_…"

When she finished what she considered to be a brief explanation of her beginning knowledge of the Tesseract, she looked up at both men to see they were staring somewhat blankly at her, though not unkindly and clearly impressed with her expanse of Norse knowledge, or at least, Bruce appeared impressed. "Sorry for the crash course, gentlemen, but I promise I have a point."

"Then make it," Steve frowned. Guinevere noted that he was not uncomfortable with her knowledge; he only wanted the information that was relevant to why Loki would want such a relic. The idea of Loki having the Tesseract caused shivers to creep down her spine like a tendril of cold fingers. For a fleeting moment she thought something had actually touched her to find that she was wrong and that it was merely a trick of her imagination.

"Fine then," She snorted and shooting the man an indignant look. Her fingers slid on the monitor easily as she brought up a picture of the Tesseract so both men could see. With a flick of her wrist she managed to create a copy of it in the palm of her hands.

Steve and Bruce looked on in fascination before the captain spoke, "Did you just pull the Tesseract out of nowhere?"

"No," She commented lightly, "I used magic to make a copy for you both to see…I needed the picture of the Tesseract to copy it exactly. A lesser form of magic, but magic all the same. Now, the Tesseract, like I was saying to Bruce earlier, is one of the singular most powerful artifacts in the Universe. Originally it was owned by Odin and left behind. Historians are unsure whether it was intentional or not, but I digress. Let me put it this way," She drew off with a definitive frown, "it has the power to wipe out the entire planet. It can open rifts through space, which is clearly how Loki got here in the first place, if what Fury and Coulson have told me is correct, and can also act as an indefinite power source to both magical and non-magical beings depending on how it's used. Based on the video I managed to scrounge up, a shot from the Tesseract's power could easily disintegrate the human body as our bodies are significantly weaker than other beings throughout the universe…or at least I assume so."

Steve nodded, "I've seen enough of its power firsthand. Red Skull used it to format weapons that could easily disintegrate the human body."

Guinevere frowned softly at the admission, remembering fleetingly that Steve was technically older than anyone in this room and would have seen the Tesseract's power beforehand as he had been around during the World War. "That's terrifyingly accurate," She commented with a deep frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "So you understand why the Tesseract should never be used."

"It's why I got rid of it…or so I'd hoped."

Guinevere shrugged, ignoring the sudden bitter nostalgia that crested Steve's face in favor of continuing her explanation. "The thing about the Tesseract, other than disintegrating human-based life forms, is that it can easily control and demolish one's way of processing thought or will."

"What do you mean?"

She turned her eyes to Bruce and crossed her arms over her nearly flat chest, "The Tesseract has the ability to strip the mind and reformat it to either its will or that of another. It has the ability to show you untold amounts of knowledge and shove that information into your head in a period of mere seconds which could inevitably destroy someone and make them insane. And that's not all…"

Bruce looked at her with a frown, "What else can it do, Gwen?" Steve's brow arched and his hands fell limply to his sides, noticing the way the woman shifted uncomfortably under the doctor's scrutiny. "This may or may not be important information that could help us save hundreds of lives."

"I'm aware of that," She sassed with a frown, her eyes narrowing dangerously, but otherwise nonthreatening. "It can't be held by mortal hands…anyone who does is decomposed and their remains are transported to another world, as the Tesseract is a gateway. However, it does not react to elements…such as metal or wood. In fact, it reacts quite well to it considering the cube is compounded elements…among other space matter at least." Both men looked at one another once more, but Guinevere continued, "If you're going to ask me why I didn't tell you before when I was asked it's because I don't trust S.H.I.E.L.D, firstly and secondly, I don't necessarily care for speaking of it because it was something many scientists were after a few years ago and among them my father. I don't claim to be forthright with my information, but I am neither a liar nor someone looking to service those who want power, which is why I was not as willing to speak about the Tesseract before Bruce asked me."

"You think S.H.I.E.L.D wants power?" Steve questioned, incredulousness coloring his words as he stared down at the young woman.

"Clearly, otherwise I would have been forthcoming and honest with them. I admit to not having told the whole truth to Fury and the agents, but I have been honest with you both because something in my magically-inclined gut is telling me to be."

"Do you have any evidence to back that suspicion of yours?"

Guinevere eyed the captain with a look so full of annoyance and exasperation that Bruce almost laughed, "I only have suspicions currently, but I'd like to pose to you both the question of why Fury wants the Tesseract to be found so quickly." She cut Steve off before he could rebuke her point with a look that could slice through steel, "I understand it's with a hostile force, but why the half-assed information? You may be into taking orders without question, Steve, but I don't take orders from anyone…I never have and I never will."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Guinevere's character is difficult for me to write because of her complexity and difference to my own character...I can't wait for the next chapter because we get some Loki time! And you can tell I love Bruce :) and before anyone says anything, I don't mind Steve, Guinevere just isn't too impressed with him right now - that'll change - but I'm trying to keep to his personality within the Avengers as he was kinda...annoying lmao. Anyway, as I always say **Reviews are lovely and appreciated, but not mandatory for an update **:D

Until next time!

Much love,  
timexgone23


	3. Mischief Managed

Skyfall ©  
The Avengers ©

~0~

**Summary:** Guinevere was always so sure of the way her life was going to go, however, her entire perspective is changed upon being forcibly added to the Avengers during the Tesseract conflict. After the invasion things quickly change and she realizes that everything she thought she was is nothing close to what she ever imagined.

**Disclaimer: **I am a poor college grad and am receiving no payment whatsoever to write this fiction. If I was, in fact, getting paid for this, I would not be a poor college graduate that I can assure you. All rights are reserved to Marvel, D.C. Comics, and Walt Disney Pictures and Columbia Studios as well as the amazing screenwriters, directors and producers, and actors who created this film. I only own the subplot as well as Guinevere Havoc, David Havoc, Maryellen Havoc, Arthur Havoc and any other unrecognizable character throughout the plot.

**Story Type: **OC-Insert

**Pairing: **Eventual Loki/OC

**Other Pairings: **TBA

**Rating: **M

**Warning: **Character death, violence, suggestive themes and light vulgarity.

**Author's Note:** Yay for chapter 3! So, I've taken the liberty to write up a quick chapter three :D We get to meet Loki in this chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It honestly took me a while to come up with some clever nicknames thanks to Tony's amazing ability to turn everything into a joke – so let me know what you thought of it!

**Special thanks to: **_Splendors of a Landslide_ my ever faithful reviewer! If you're looking for an amazing Loki/OC pairing, head over to her profile and check it out – it's quite amazing and unique :)

Anyway, onwards and upwards to chapter 3 :D

Much Love,  
timexgone23

* * *

_Skyfall  
The Avengers  
03_

Bruce looked across the lab at the younger woman, content that she had seemingly dozed off soon after Steve had claimed he needed to get back to the bridge. It was unusual to say the very least, or at least he believed so. She was intelligent, yes, though she almost seemed marred by the world in general. He had noticed that, multiple times throughout her explaining anything involving magic, her eyes seemed to drift into the direction of the six-gauge needles on the other side of the room. She appeared aged and much older than even Bruce was willing to give her credit for, but it did nothing to withhold his suspicions.

He had been rather impressed with her knowledge of mythology, but she had merely skipped over the relevance of the Tesseract being hidden behind the dragon _Níðhöggr_ in the mural. He was curious if she had any theories behind that particular subject, but figured he would ask her when she woke up.

He would not admit it out loud, but the silence of the lab, while at one time in his life he would have enjoyed it, was almost too silent. Bruce had enjoyed her insistent chattering and short quips and her strange quirks as it allowed him to focus on what he was doing and to stave off his exhaustion. The young woman was someone he had not known for more than a few hours and she had already managed to break through his walls and into his better graces. It was not that Bruce was unfriendly, but the man could not afford to trust easily and allow his friendship to be earned easily either.

Pausing in his work, Bruce removed his wire-rimmed spectacles and placed them on the table. He looked to the monitor on his left to see that it was still calibrating the coordinates of the Tesseract before nodding to himself and stepping around his workbench to where the young woman was slumped over another counter, her head resting on her folded arms and her bangs falling from the braid she had secured it in hours before but had loosened due to her earlier shifting and mussing during her sleep, curtaining her features. Standing close to her he could see the extent of the damage she had sustained upon her detainment and ultimately her shanghaied alliance with S.H.I.E.L.D as the gauze around her knuckles was beginning to spot where he only imagined wide and open cuts had been made from her fight. He noticed, with her head turned the way it was, that she had a nasty cut that stretched the length of her cheekbone and was already bruised over, a scab closed over her eyebrow and a few other scrapes lining her arms and neck. He took the time to observe the tattoo on her forearm as well, a series of birds that began on the side of her wrist and stretched up to her elbow and he could faintly make out the words _Vivre à la conquête des craintes dans les parties les plus profondes de votre cœur car c'est là que vous trouverez la liberté_, woven in between the birds. Instead of the birds flying towards her elbow, like he had seen many girls do, they flew instead down to her hand and he assumed it was representative of her magic abilities_._ She was beat up, that much was for certain and he was almost happy that he had not struggled when S.H.I.E.L.D had collected him, instead opting to go peacefully. Despite the marring of her skin she seemed completely peaceful and he nearly chuckled when she murmured something incoherently as she shifted once more and he decided that it would be a good time to wake her, only to stop as the lab door opened once more and in the frame stood Natasha.

She looked around the room before her eyes settled on the copper-haired woman before sighing, "We got face recognition in Stuttgart, Germany…we're suiting up and she's coming with us for now."

"To detain Loki I'd imagine?"

"Precisely."

Bruce nodded before pressing his palm into her shoulder gently and shaking her, "Gwen, you need to wake up."

"Five more minutes," She mumbled earning a smirk from the doctor, "Dr. Harlow's presentation can wait."

"I'm sure that it can, but you need to get up."

Guinevere rolled her head along the length of her arms, her shoulders heaving with her deep sigh before peering up at Bruce with a half-lidded honey colored optic, "Why couldn't you have been my annoying roommate asking me to finish her 19th century literature presentation?"

"I'm assuming that Dr. Harlow taught 19th century literature?"

The young woman ignored the smirk splitting Bruce's lips in humor at her half-conscious state and her nod was the only answer she felt fit to manage before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Natasha took that moment to speak, "Fury wants you to suit up. We're heading to Stuttgart to apprehend Loki."

Hazel optics glared at the redheaded woman tiredly from behind the curtain of her long fringe that had gone askew in her slumber. "I thought I was being used for tech support," She groused tiredly before settling a steady stare on the Black Widow's curvaceous form. "Since when did Fury get off on ordering me around?"

"Since you reluctantly agreed to assist us," Natasha answered sharply before tossing the jacket that she had clenched in her fist at the groggy woman, earning a snort of indignation as the leather hit her in the chest. "It's a little chilly on the quinjet, so I suggest you get moving."

Rolling her eyes, Guinevere tugged the jacket onto her slight frame before standing and offering Bruce a small wave as she followed the Russian out of the lab. "So," She began after a few moments of silence and following the agent through the twisting hallways of the helicarrier, "considering I know next to nothing about any of you, wanna brief me on the famous Black Widow?"

"Not particularly," The woman answered sharply earning an exasperated huff from the copper-haired Familiar.

"I think it's hardly fair that you know so much about me and I know next to nothing about you," Guinevere commented after reining in her annoyance with the redhead. "Considering you detained me and kicked my ass."

Natasha smirked, "You are rather terrible at hand-to-hand combat, I'll give you that."

"Gee thanks for the vote of confidence."

"You're fast though," She continued, smirking at the woman's sarcasm, "Perhaps with a little bit of training you'd actually be able to beat me in a fight."

"You didn't exactly fight fairly either," She rebuked. "I wouldn't have had to take my animal form if you had taken off those annoying pincer gauntlets you've got."

Natasha's trimmed brow arched, "A woman's got to know her strength in a fight…mine is using these _annoying pincer gauntlets_."

"I would actually say that you're better at hand-to-hand combat…rather, you like getting in close to your opponent and rendering them useless. I prefer long-range fighting as it gives me more flexibility and lets me utilize my agility."

"So what are you complaining about not knowing me for?"

Guinevere rolled her eyes as the Russian imputed the code to the quinjet's door, stepping beside Steve who had clearly been waiting for them to arrive. She did not offer the woman a retort, instead opting to get herself ready for what may come to pass. As a Familiar, Guinevere was worried only for her reluctant teammates, as she could easily be used against them if Loki was faster than she was. Though, this she doubted as she enjoyed transforming into the faster of the feline species given that her human body was lithe and small and very, very cat-like in build, but it was a concern to keep at the very forefront of her mind. The three stepped into the jet quietly; Steve focused on the task at hand, Natasha moving into the pilot's cockpit and Guinevere trying to ignore the feeling of dread that was beginning to wash over her.

The flight was silent, each member quietly contemplating the impending mission. Steve turned his eyes to the newest member of the group and frowned softly. He quite remembered how knowledgeable she was on the topic of the Tesseract and while it concerned him, it was not as concerning as her information on HYDRA. She seemed to understand things at a higher level than even he did and that both relieved him and worried him. Steve was unsure whether or not to trust her and it was not because of her mere knowledge alone, but on the means of her agreement with S.H.I.E.L.D. He did not know if she was really trustworthy at all considering she had to be detained before she remotely agreed to help, meaning she was already reluctant and what would prevent her from turning against the very people that was keeping her under such high scrutiny?

"You can stop staring at me you know."

He looked up at the sound of her soft alto, surprised that she had bothered to speak to him at all. After a few moments of regaining his thought track, Steve sighed. "I'm sorry; I'm just finding it a little strange that you were asked to come along."

A smirk twitched at her lips, "You're a terrible liar Captain. I can tell you don't trust me and under the circumstances I can't really say that I blame you."

"And is there any reason why I shouldn't trust you? Why _we_ shouldn't trust you?"

Steve watched as she considered his question, her face nearly expressionless and the only hint that she truly was considering his words was the soft flickering in her eyes. After a moment her shoulders fell and her head lolled backwards as she peered at him passed her softly sculpted nose, "You won't believe any word I can offer without questioning my loyalty so perhaps there is reason you shouldn't trust me. However, I'd hope that, since we're on a mission to detain a seriously dangerous magic user – sorcerer rather – you'd have more faith in me than what I can give my word on."

"That isn't what I asked."

"Isn't it?" Steve's lips fell into a scowl at her tart question, her eyes peering at him from where her head rested against the back of the seat, her posture vulnerable, open and relaxed even. "You asked me if there was any reason why you couldn't trust me. My answer was that any reason I give you, any reason at all, would undoubtedly be questioned until I prove myself to be trustworthy. It isn't all that hard, Captain –"

"Steve," he corrected sourly.

"Steve," she amended quickly. "I mean no disrespect, but your distrust of me is misplaced. While I don't _enjoy _helping the very people that have detained me, I'm not going to throw myself at the first person to oppose them and especially someone who is apparently hell-bent on enslaving the world."

"I apologize for insinuating such."

Guinevere offered him a humorless laugh, "You insinuated it hours ago when it was revealed that I didn't volunteer to aide S.H.I.E.L.D, even more so when I revealed my true knowledge of the Tesseract and my being of magic-based origins. You fear what you don't know and I suppose I admire you for that. Though I have to admit: it's refreshing really…to be surrounded by somewhat enhanced beings so that I don't have to pretend that I'm some normal twenty-five year old surrounded by close-minded and normal individuals. Human nature is to fear things that cannot be explained and so it makes sense, your mistrust. But I can assure you that in order for us to work together on this; you may want to start trusting me."

Steve considered the gravity of her words before frowning deeply, "I can't say that I trust you fully, but I suppose for now I'll have to take your word for things."

"That's all I ask."

He nodded, "So is there anything I should be aware of before we do this?"

"I have many abilities, but I'm not any good in close quarters…I'll need to stay at a distance to be of any use with my more magic based attacks. The only time I'll be able to get close is if I'm in my feline form, but even that's a risk."

"Why?"

"As I was explaining to Bruce earlier, a Familiar is a live-form magical relic. Normally we're not meant to use magic ourselves unless it is precautionary to our own safety or the safety of our charge. But, if Loki manages to touch me at all and get a firm grip for any length of time he could use my magic against you."

"How is that even possible?"

Steve and Guinevere turned to look at Natasha who had spoken; her voice incredulous. The copper-haired Familiar sighed heavily before answering, "Magical relics act as amplifiers to magic users. Being as I am a relic of magic and Loki is a magic user, he can use my abilities to heighten his own…it's one of the reasons I'm quite reluctant to be here and why I threw such a hissy-fit back at base when I found out what was really going on. Like I said, my strength is in long range attacks…you get close enough, I can pin him down to allow you a better angle."

"We'll keep it in mind."

Natasha did not respond, but she had no need to. Instead she looked to the screen before her and frowned, "ETA ten minutes. You both may want to get ready for the drop."

"Parachute?"

Guinevere smirked at the offer, rolling her shoulders as she stood. "I won't be needing one, Steve. A cat always lands on her feet." Steve did not have time to question her statement as she hit the button to open the back panel and jumped. Her skin was quickly replaced by a beautiful white coat as she transformed, black spots quickly formed along the length of her elongated form, spreading from the tear-like streaks at the corner of her molten cat-like optics to the rings on her tail and tips of her paws. She landed, her tail spinning to regain her balance as she used the momentum to propel herself to the next building where she skid to a halt. For a moment she adjusted to her newly enhanced senses as was typical of this form and awaited the appearance of the Captain.

"Are you crazy!?"

She turned her head, offering the man a feline-like grin, "_It is a mere manner of speaking, Steve._"

Steve stared at her, his jaw dropping, "You can talk?"

"_Through your mind, yes. It would be rather strange if a cat, especially one as wild and unique as myself, were to physically be able to speak. To be quite honest, a cat cannot speak no matter how much it wishes to for our vocal cords vibrate differently than a human's._"

"You always talk this fancy in this form?" Steve quipped dryly before frowning at her and earning another cat-like smirk, but otherwise remained silent. The two remained unspeaking before Guinevere's ear twitched, spinning around to catch the sound of people screaming. Steve's brow quirked before he stepped up next to where the large cat had moved, "What do you hear? What's happening?"

"_It's happening…we must move, now!_"

Before Steve could question what she meant, his belt was seized in the cat's strong jaw and he was thrown forward at an immeasurable speed and force towards a crowd of people with the god of Mischief himself standing over them. He was amazed at Guinevere's timing as he managed to land before a single man standing before the gold and green clad man, the latter preparing to blast the veteran for his insolence. He immediately brought up his shield as Loki released a bright blue blast from his scepter, the blast bouncing off of the shield and knocking the god off of his feet.

Shaking the shock of her accuracy, Steve stood, looking down at the raven-haired man and earning a glower. "You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."

The god only chuckled as he stood, "The soldier. A man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

Natasha flew in the quinjet and hovered in place, "_Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!_" Loki's retaliation was to shoot at the quinjet, Natasha maneuvering away from the blast just in time. Guinevere made her appearance among the quickly scattering people, grabbing a quickly stumbling teenager out of the line of fire as Steve maneuvered out of the way of a blast from Loki, nearly hitting the civilian instead. The Familiar nearly swore, but instead growled at the teenager to get his legs moving once more.

After the boy nearly destroyed her hearing with is scream she turned her attention back to the fight to see that Steve was faring worse than he should with his strength. It was as Loki grabbed the fist Steve threw at him and tossed him aside that Guinevere decided she needed to act and so lowered her form before propelling herself forward with the speed given to her by her chosen form. As she neared she swung her claw at him with her nails fully extended, her eyes narrowed in the utmost concentration. She had warned Steve earlier to not leave close-quarter combat to her as it was her weak spot and that suddenly came to ring true as Loki grabbed her paw, just missing the deadly nails and swinging her into the concrete.

"Ah, how convenient," His voice brought her back from her daze in time for her to transform into a partial form and avoid the swing of his scepter, "a Familiar. How thoughtful of the soldier to bring you along with him."

Without waiting for him to swing again, Guinevere reformed her full cat body and stalked carefully as he circled her. For every step to the side he made, she made one in the opposite direction. She could see his brow furrowing beneath the point of his helm as he clearly underestimated her intelligence, but it was his eyes that left her the most confused. There was a film around the outer iris that made his eyes appear a bright blue, yes, but she could tell it was not a natural anomaly. "_While that may be true, Loki of Asgard, you will find that I am a much more stubborn relic than any you have managed to secure within your past_."

A mad grin split the god's lips, "You know of me."

"_Do not flatter yourself,_" She commented with a low growl of warning, mentally counting down from ten to put her plan into effect. She could see Steve closing in out of Loki's field of vision and she only hoped that she could give the Captain an edge if she kept the man occupied and unaware of his surroundings. "_You are nothing compared to the beings who have tried to procure me in the past and lies coated in honey will do nothing to sway me to your side either Asgardian._"

"Oh, you _are_ well informed for a relic aren't you?"

"_And you underestimate the beings you wish so strongly to control and in doing so you've already predetermined your failure_."

As Loki made to speak once more she leapt over him, making sure to aim for the horns of his helm as Steve threw his shield. She released a loud hiss as he grabbed her tail and swung her from her mid-leap, instead redirecting her by the sensitive appendage and sending her crashing passed the patriot. Loki wasted no time in coming to arms against Steve once more, swinging violently and sending the Captain sprawling. As Steve attempted to stand, Loki placed his scepter to his head and growled smugly, "Kneel."

"Not today!"

A cry passed the god's lips as Steve spun, his instep connecting with his jaw and sending him stumbling back, though Steve's small victory was short lived as Loki spun on the silent Guinevere and fired a shot at her. Quickly the cat moved out of the way, mentally sighing in relief as the blast did nothing more but singe a few of the hairs on her tail. Within her feline form she built her magic up and sent it flying at the god in order to give Steve enough time to get out of the way of the calculated swing of the scepter. She heard him cry out and smirked to herself in victory before she was forced to dodge and dance out of the way once more. It was as she came to a stop she noticed Loki's attention turned once again to the patriot to see that he had thrown him backwards without much effort and was aiming to blast the captain with the scepter. Guinevere raced forward and, with speed only gifted to her cheetah-like form, knocked Steve out of the way of the blast, but not before taking the blast meant to for the captain. A burning sensation unlike anything Guinevere had ever felt before in her life came to life at her side and forced her to change back into her human form with a cry of anguish. Ignoring the absolute pain that seemed to seep into her veins from the shot, she stumbled to her feet and threw up an energy shield in time to block herself from another blast before firing a hex back at the god and diving behind a raised barrier where bushes had been planted.

Steve moved forward once again in order to deter the god from attacking his comrade, throwing his shield in only an effort to pull Loki's attention to him and give Guinevere time to recuperate from the blast. Guinevere groaned holding her hand to the wound and attempting to get her breathing under enough control that she could force what was left of her magic to begin healing the rather nasty burn that had been left in wake of the scepter's blast – only to frown as the injury seemed to block any attempt at her magic. With a deep sigh and forced concentration she pushed more of her energy into the infected area, happy that the burn had finally stopped spreading and instead began to ache around the very edges of the mark. Oxygen seemed to be too little for her as she took in air greedily in an effort to satisfy her lungs. The scepter's magic was definitely of a dark magic – or so she assumed – and it felt as if lead had been pumped into her veins. Shaking her ailments briefly at the sound of blasters unfamiliar to S.H.I.E.L.D's technology she frowned suddenly, recognizing _Shoot to Thrill_ blasting from the quinjet's PA system followed by a loud cry that came after a blast. Managing to gather her feet below the rest of her body, the copper-haired Familiar forced herself to stand to see that Steve was no longer alone and that a man clad in gold and red armor now stood with his hands positioned to blast Loki into the next age.

"_Make your move Reindeer Games_."

She nearly cried out in exasperation when Loki's armor disappeared with influence of his magic and he raised his hands in a sign of surrender. With a deep sigh she moved out from behind the raised platform and moved closer to Steve and the man, holding her side gingerly.

"Mr. Stark," Steve reluctantly greeted, breathy pants of exertion passing his lips. It was clear the fight had taken more out of the patriot than he had anticipated and the gold and red clad man briefly turned his head to Steve, his eyes, even from behind the facemask of his armor, clearly keeping Loki in his sights.

"_Captain_."

_Well that certainly explains that now_, she thought dryly to herself as she approached garnering the attention of all three males as Natasha lowered the jet. Steve, however, was the first to break the tense silence and noticing how she rubbed her side tentatively as well as the charred bit of her shirt and the smell of burnt skin.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy," she answered tersely, briefly looking down at the god and frowning at the scepter that lay next to him in thought. "I managed to dodge most of the blast, if not I'd probably not be able to grace you with conversation."

Steve rolled his eyes, but it was Stark who commented, "And who the hell are you?"

"Guinevere Havoc," She answered with a brow arched in bemusement before sighing and making her way to the jet, "Well, I dunno about you boys, but I'd kill for a milkshake. Let's get going shall we?"

Steve moved away to allow Stark to pull Loki to his feet before catching up with her, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her, "You took that blast on purpose." She noted immediately that it was not a question and she sighed softly.

"Yes."

"Why?"

She tensed as Loki passed her, his lips quirking at her discomfort. The two watched as he was strapped in and said nothing, only allowing Stark and Natasha to restrain him without protest. "I needed to be certain of something and that blast was the only way I was going to confirm it."

"And what was that?"

Guinevere turned her eyes to meet the honest blue optics that would have made any girl swoon, her eyes hard, "It's not something you'd understand, Steve. It was a magic-based theory that I had and that I needed to test out on myself. Better me than you in all honesty." She could tell that Steve was not buying her statement and she bit the inside of her cheek. She had not wanted to lie to the Captain, but it was better that he understood little about the scepter and its connection to the Tesseract less he say the wrong thing to Fury without meaning to.

~0~

"What's our ETA?"

Natasha turned briefly to look at the Familiar, "About two hours, think you can sit that long?" The redhead's brow arched when the other woman snorted in a rather unladylike fashion, leaning against the seat that she was currently occupying.

Natasha had made quick work of saturating the burn with a salve and bandaging the Familiar's side in an effort to keep it from not only hurting the woman, but to keep the smell of burning flesh at bay. Guinevere did not want to admit it, but the burn felt as if it was slowly decomposing her side and it had not taken long for even the Russian to become pale at the extent of the damage. She reckoned that it had burnt down to the bone of her rib and that had been what had put even Tony Stark off as he and Steve had quickly turned away while the agent was tending to her care. During that entire time, Loki had done nothing, but watch. It still unnerved her that he had done nothing but merely stare at her as if she was another piece upon the chessboard between himself and S.H.I.E.L.D. Shaking her head of the thoughts she answered Natasha's question, noticing briefly that her inquiry had been toned on concern for the woman's well-being.

"Yeah, I can last that long…it's the boys I'm worried about." She muttered, her hand still nursing the wound she had received not only to save Steve, but to stave her own curiosity which she now cursed herself for. "They're antsy and Loki's staring isn't making it any better."

"No," Natasha agreed with narrowed eyes. "Unfortunately they're going to have to be as patient as possible. We're flying as fast as we can."

"I know that, but Stark seems to be under the impression that we're _cruising_."

"Well he's more than welcome to fly himself there."

Guinevere smirked before pushing off of her seat and moving back to where Tony, who she had been quickly introduced to, and Steve stood. They shot glances between each other and their rather gleeful detainee. She briefly heard Fury's voice through Natasha's headset and her muttered responses before turning as Steve bumped her side lightly as if garnering her attention. When she looked to him, his eyes were once again on Loki and she only assumed that it had been a mere brushing with his constant shifting.

"I don't like it."

"What?" Tony questioned as he turned his eyes from the windshield before them to look over to the flag-clad hero, "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"Of all the nicknames in the world, _Rock of Ages_, really?"

Tony turned his eyes to meet hers before he smirked, "Not creative enough for you Puss in Boots?" When Guinevere rolled her eyes Steve stepped in with a frown, his discomfort clear on his face.

"I don't remember it ever being that easy. This guy packs a wallop."

The genius only shifted on his feet, "Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow." Guinevere's brow arched as he turned and gave the Captain a once over, "What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

Steve frowned, "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yeah," The genius bit sarcastically, "there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

The Familiar's lips puckered as she exhaled a soft whistle in hopes to break the tension that had descended between the two men, "Well then, tons of fun."

"What are you British?"

"Canadian, actually," Guinevere corrected quickly.

Tony only shrugged, "And here I'd hoped you'd have some weird Spanish accent so I could make Antonio Banderas references."

"Certainly not," She commented as she crossed her arms over her flattened chest, "but I'm sure I can come up with a few for you…_Easy-bake_."

"Oooh, surprisingly _catty_."

The woman only rolled her eyes before frowning as Natasha sat straighter in her chair at the sound of thunder and lightning, the flashes illuminating the dark clouds ominously. "Where's this coming from?" Another rumble of thunder seemed to vibrate against the jet as it cut through the clouds and Loki leaned forward in what seemed like anticipation, earning the looks of both men and the Familiar.

"What's the matter?" Steve bit at the god, "Scared of a little lightning?"

Loki leveled him with a bemused expression, "I'm not overly fond of what follows."

Steve immediately turned to Guinevere, "What does that mean?"

"Why're you asking me?" She questioned with furrowed brows, "I've got a Masters in history not meteorology."

"You're the only one remotely inclined to understanding his kind."

"That doesn't mean I can predict the weather, Steve." She bit back scathingly as she turned her eyes to the windshield, all occupants of the jet jumping as something heavy landed on top of the jet with another clash of lightning and thunder.

In hopes of investigating, Tony attached his helm and hit the button to open the hatch of the jet only for another man to land on the ramp. Guinevere quickly observed him, surprising herself that she had not observed Loki nearly as fully as she was this man. He was tall, long blonde hair waving from his scalp and his blue eyes glaring at all occupants of the jet. Tony made to blast him only for the man to swing his hammer and knock him back into Steve, Guinevere spinning out of the way to avoid the pileup. He grabbed Loki by the back of his neck and disappeared with the spinning of his hammer.

"What the hell just happened?"

Her question went unanswered as Tony stood up with a groan, "Now there's that guy."

"Another Asgardian?"

"That guy's a friendly?"

Natasha's question went unanswered in favor of Steve's question and Tony only frowned behind his mask, "_Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost._"

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"

"_I have a plan_," Tony bit back in response, "_attack_."

Before anyone could stop him, Tony dove from the jet, his thrusters leaving a wave of heat to roll through the jet. Steve and Guinevere looked at one another before the patriot began strapping a parachute to his body. Natasha frowned from the front, "I'd sit this one out, Cap!"

"I don't see how I can."

"These guys come from legends, they're basically gods!"

Guinevere sighed, "I have to go with Natasha on this one, Steve, and this isn't a good idea at all."

Steve ignored her as he fastened the parachute to his chest, "There's only one God ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." With that statement, he too jumped from the jet. Rolling her eyes, the Familiar began to transform, fully intent to rely on her cat-like grace to make it easier for her to assist them.

"Maybe you should take your own advice, Gwen."

"_And let the boys have all the fun?_" She questioned in a soft growl, "_I think not. Besides, who's going to make sure that Loki doesn't wander off?_" She did not wait for the Russian to answer her before she too jumped from the jet, landing on the cliffs below her and pushing her body into a heavy sprint. With her claws she easily raced along the uneven terrain, able to grip the earth below to propel her faster. She soon came to the cliff that overlooked the battle between Tony and the silver and red-clad Asgardian. Landing on the ledge she took note that Loki was merely watching the battle with a smirk on his face before she reformed her human appearance, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You seem entirely too smug with yourself."

Loki looked up at the woman, his smirk not falling from his lips. He gave credit where credit was due as she was not unappealing for a mortal woman, certainly not his first choice but she was easy on the eyes. He scoffed as he appraised her loose clothing; clearly she thought nothing of her petite features. "I am merely enjoying the show, though I am loathe to question why you have not joined them."

Guinevere turned her eyes to meet his, "I don't need to participate in a battle of witless men while they exercise their muscles. I'm not built for such fights and so I allow them to fight their battle without interference. There are other ways to fighting than mere brawn."

"Wise words," Loki smirked, watching as the muscle of her jaw clenched and unclenched and her arms tightened as did her fists from where they grabbed her arms. It was clear she was bothered by his flattery and so was attempting to control herself, if her white-knuckled grip was anything to go by. "And what did they promise you? A magical being, such as yourself should not need anything of material value."

"You're probably the single most annoying being in the entire universe."

Whatever Loki was about to say was silenced as a loud _gong_ sounded throughout the area a blast of energy sweeping over them and forcing both the god and Familiar to turn away in hopes of avoiding the blast. When the dust cleared, Guinevere stood and looked down at the battleground to see that a perfect circle formed in a circumference of at least twenty feet around the three men, "By the stars…"

"The correct phrase would be _by the nine_, but I suppose that's another one of your Midgardian colloquiums."

Guinevere leveled him with a glare, "I meant what I said. I'm a magical being of _Earth_ and so the phrase that we beings use is _by the stars_. I'd appreciate it if you simply shut your mouth for more than twenty minutes at a time."

Loki only smirked, "And where is the fun in that I wonder?" She did not grace him with a reply, instead looked on as all three men trudged up the cliff to where she and the god had been throughout the length of the fight.

"Well, you boys feel better now that you've gotten the extra dosage of testosterone out of your systems or do I have to knock the rest out of you?"

"_Yeah okay and how much do you weigh again_?" Tony bit from behind his mask, "_90 pounds when wet_?"

Guinevere rolled her eyes, "Look who think he's a comedian." She then looked passed him to the blonde haired behemoth, "And you are?"

"Thor of Asgard."

"Well, Thor of Asgard, I'm Guinevere Havoc. Pleasure to meet you…so you planning on working with us now or…?"

Steve sighed heavily, "He's here to help."

"Ah," Guinevere nodded, "so this really was just a flexing of muscles. Glad I didn't waste my time then. Shall we?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **So, what'd ya think huh? So we get to see a little bit of Guinevere's abilities - she'll develop with time, just so you know and in case you were wondering, this is a slow-developing story especially with plot and romance. I'm using the Avengers plotline to base the characters before we get into the fun stuff :D Anywho, I can't wait for the coming chapters. I've got a lot planned and I'm super exited to show you!

As _Splenders of a Landslide_ pointed out to me in a PM, Guinevere is rather "Spock"-like and I can't wait to show you the opposite side of her personality ;) As always, **reviews are lovely and appreciated, but not mandatory for an update**! Oh and in case you were wondering - the tattoo on her forearm is significant for future chapters *wink wink*...feel free to plug it into google translate if you'd like, I know it's probably not a perfect translation so if anyone is good with French and can validate that for me, that'd be pretty awesome :)

Until next time!

Meg xoxo


	4. Human Nature

Skyfall ©Marvel Comics  
The Avengers ©timexgone23

~0~

**Summary:** Guinevere was always so sure of the way her life was going to go, however, her entire perspective is changed upon being forcibly added to the Avengers during the Tesseract conflict. After the invasion things quickly change and she realizes that everything she thought she was is nothing close to what she ever imagined.

**Disclaimer: **I am a poor college grad and am receiving no payment whatsoever to write this fiction. If I was, in fact, getting paid for this, I would not be a poor college graduate that I can assure you. All rights are reserved to Marvel, D.C. Comics, and Walt Disney Pictures and Columbia Studios as well as the amazing screenwriters, directors and producers, and actors who created this film. I only own the subplot as well as Guinevere Havoc, David Havoc, Maryellen Havoc, Arthur Havoc and any other unrecognizable character throughout the plot.

**Story Type: **OC-Insert

**Pairing: **Eventual Loki/OC

**Other Pairings: **TBA

**Rating: **M

**Warning: **Character death, violence, suggestive themes and light vulgarity

**Author's Note:**Hello and welcome to chapter 4! I know it's been a bit between updates so I apologize for that. Anyways, I decided to have a wee bit of fun for this chapter and have some lovely Loki/Gwen time while he's in his cell…let's see who catches the most hints shall we ;)

**A special thanks to the reviewers of chapter 3: **_ValueMyHeart _and _Splendors of a Landslide_

_ValueMyHeart – _I love new reviewers so thanks for stopping by and leaving me a message :) I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one as well :D

_Splendors of a Landslide – _Dawwwwwww thanks girl! I enjoy good action and so I watch a lot of movies and videos that encompass fight scenes…Though I think the best I've ever written was in ADE between Jenna and Sam :) BUT I digress haha. Hehehehehe, yeah there definitely is chemistry, however, it's more because of her detachment rather than sentiment. I pictured Guinevere as being more logical than overly emotional or apathetic and I think it's because, as you've pointed out to me in PM, she's inadvertently based on Spock (of course my favorite Trek character other than Khan). Haha! Yes! I'm so glad you picked up on her relationship with Nat. I read a lot of fictions where they either bash her or make her into something to be contended with. Guinevere is nowhere near Natasha's physical prowess, but eventually they will have a rather friendly relationship – only Guinevere is a little bitter due to her containment, but I promise they end up friends ;) YAY! I'm glad I nailed it – I was a little worried writing Tony's character because he's so eccentric, sarcastic and callous, but I think that's what makes him easy to write too and I'm glad you liked the nicknames. It took me a while to think of a clever one for Guinevere until I thought Puss-in-Boots was both appropriate and hilarious. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and thank you so much for your reviews! They always leave me with a smile on my face :D

Without further adieu, ON WITH THE FIC!

* * *

_Skyfall  
The Avengers  
04_

"I just don't get it," Guinevere frowned as she paced the length of the lab in front of Bruce who was currently observing Loki's scepter. "This just doesn't add up at all. He _watched_ them fight, simply relaxing like he was about to do a photo shoot for Vogue magazine."

"Are you sure he simply knew he wouldn't match them?"

She shook her head, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she paced. Upon returning she had gone back to her make-shift room and changed into an olive green shirt of similar design as her last one. It had already been laid out for her and she did little to question it. All she had assumed was that Natasha had called it in and they had already had a replacement for her.

"Let me see."

She sighed again and lifted her shirt to reveal her side where a large bandage was taped. With deft fingers he removed the bandage, apologizing when she flinched away from the contact as the skin around the bandage was much more sensitive after meeting the blast of the magic-infused scepter. "It was a long shot, but I needed to test something. The scepter seems to have similar consistency to magic based attacks that I studied when I was a child," She rambled as Bruce prodded the tender area. "I don't know too much about the scepter itself, but the energy that it holds is preventing me from healing with magic."

"So you took a shot in the dark and almost died because of it?"

"Uh…yeah that's what I just said."

Bruce shook his head as he replaced the old bandage with a new one, "If I didn't know any better I would've thought you'd be a scientist."

She smirked, "How many scientists do you know would willingly throw themselves in front of something to prove their hypothesis."

"Not many, I'll give it that."

She gave him a knowing glance and only smiled in reply before pulling down her shirt once more, the fabric falling to her hip loosely. Bruce nodded before circling back to the scepter and beginning his readings once more. Guinevere sighed and moved to the other side of the lab, her eyes drifting every so often to the scepter from where she sat behind another monitor. The two lapsed into silence for a short while before the sound of marching boots brought both of their attention to the hallway where nearly twenty armed S.H.I.E.L.D agents walked a smirking Loki down the hallway. Bruce removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache forming suddenly behind his eyes as he and the god of Mischief locked gazes briefly. Bruce then watched as Guinevere sat straight, her eyes following Loki as he disappeared around the next corner with his entourage.

"I think we should head to the bridge…"

"Yeah," Bruce nodded before following her out of the lab. The two walked in silence, clearly both lost in thought. They entered the bridge and stood, waiting for Fury's feed to begin as it was clear they were meant to watch what would be an interrogation from the room where they were detaining Loki.

"_In case it's unclear. You try to escape. You so much as scratch that glass_…" Fury began as he imputed a code into the computer directly across from the cell that was suspended in the middle of the rounded catwalks by hydraulic rigs. Loki moved closer to the camera to peer below as air rushed through the room, the sound feeding through the screen that the group was watching from. "_Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?!_" Guinevere frowned, watching the god's reaction rather than paying attention to what Fury was doing, "_Ant,_" He gestured to the raven-haired man, "_boot,_" he gestured back to the computer, inputting the code and turning as the compartment closed once more.

Loki only smirked, "_It's an impressive cage, not built, I think, for me._"

"_It's built for something a lot stronger than you_."

"_Oh I've heard_," Loki commented slyly before turning his eyes directly to the camera, "_A mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?_"

Guinevere ignored the looks that went around the table at the mention of Bruce's other half, the gazes uncomfortable and shifty before returning to the screens. She shot Bruce a look from the corner of her eye and nudged him gently earning a small smile in return, though he looked nothing if only amused at the jibe. Fury took a few steps towards the glass, Loki's goal accomplished as the man looked absolutely irate.

"_How desperate am I?_" He asked incredulously,_ "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control_ –"

"Quite frankly," Guinevere murmured quietly, "I think he's the only one here who truly knows how to control it…"

"_You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did._"

"What do you mean?"

She turned briefly to Steve, who had apparently heard her, and shook her head. It was not the time for her to explain her theory and especially when Fury was far from done. She, in reality, wanted to hear his response to the accusations made against him and she was not disappointed. For the first time since Fury stepped into the room with Loki, the god seemed to react scathingly towards the words fired at him, though Guinevere could tell that he was orchestrating this conversation like a skilled composer, "_Ooh. It burns you to come so close_." He mocked, only bending forward to truly express the bite behind his words, "_To have the Tesseract, to have power,_" He paused, his tone lightening as if emphasizing that he did, in fact, understand more about the Tesseract than any of them did, "_**unlimited**__ power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is_."

Fury seemed at a loss of what to say and only scoffed, "_Well, you let me know if _Real Power_ wants a magazine or something_."

The screen went blank and Guinevere frowned softly, "In answer to your earlier question Steve, and for those who didn't hear what I said," She began before massaging her temples, "I believe the only person here who knows the true power that is hidden within the Tesseract and be able to remotely control it _is_ Loki. What I mean by this is that the Tesseract is a magical relic, one of the highest forms of relics, but powerful nonetheless. As a magical being, I understand the power that comes with the cube, but only Loki, being a magic _user_ would really grasp the chemistry and concept of such a relic."

"That does little to comfort any of us," Natasha grumbled from across the table as she leveled a cool stare on the Familiar. "You said on the jet that you know more about the Tesseract than anyone else. What _haven't_ you told us?"

"A great deal, actually. As I have said before on multiple occasions, I understand things differently from the way any of you would because my understanding goes beyond what regular humans are able to comprehend. I'll not emphasize this point any more than necessary as I'm growing tired of repeating myself and having my loyalty questioned. I'd like to remind all of you that I have no reason to really be loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D and that I'm only here because I don't need this guy to take over my world. Quite frankly, I'd rather live under the regime of an intolerant communist ruler than Loki."

Bruce sighed as tension descended upon the room before he chuckled, "He really grows on you, doesn't he?"

Guinevere only shrugged, ignoring the look that Thor cast her from the other side of the room. Throughout the length of the interrogation the god had said nothing nor looked at the screen that held the image of his brother. The Familiar had managed to learn much about the relationship between the two after they had landed.

Steve frowned, "Loki's gonna drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri," The blonde sighed deeply, his voice rumbling like the thunder he so represented, though it was clear to all that he was upset by the words of his brother. "They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army…from outer space?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what Thor's alluding to, yes." Guinevere commented from beside Bruce, her brows furrowed tightly together. Steve made to rebuke her sarcasm when the doctor cut in, clearly using the patriot's words as a jumping point to continue the conversation without fights.

"So he's building another portal," He concluded quickly. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?"

Bruce nodded, "He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend," Thor nodded in recognition. Natasha frowned from her side of the table, looking rightfully miserable as she turned her eyes to the blonde.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," She explained before looking back down at the table, "along with one of ours."

Steve frowned deeply, "I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." He shot a look at the copper-haired woman as she made to speak, as if daring her to rebuke him on the subject only for Bruce to once again break the tension.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." He shot the Familiar a look to show he had not meant offense to her and she waved it off with amusement dancing in her eyes. Thor frowned deeply, clearly insulted by the insinuation against his brother.

"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha fired back dryly as she leveled the behemoth with an icy stare. Thor only faulted for a moment, clearly at a loss of explanation.

"He's adopted."

Guinevere rolled her eyes, "A clever comeback there."

"And what would you have me say?"

She turned her eyes to meet the angry blue of Thor's before frowning, "I don't need to say anything in regards of Loki's character because I don't know him well enough to form an opinion. But if you're going to defend him then defend him and stick to it. There's no use coming up with excuses for him and defending him against one person if you're only going to let someone else smear his character. Not only does it make little sense, but it shows me little of your own merit."

Steve whirled to look at the young woman in anger, "You're really defending that psycho!?"

"I'm not defending anyone," Guinevere bit back, "I'm only saying that if you say one thing and do another it's no better that what Loki has proven to us this far. I don't care if he's the scum of the Earth; if you decide to protect the character against one person's opinion then you'd better be defending that character against any other person who decides to comment as well. This has nothing to do with Loki; I'm merely emphasizing a point."

Natasha turned her glare to the Familiar, "So you're going to argue to that he deserves a chance?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all," Guinevere glared back with agitation, "Clearly I'm the only one here with any sense of unbiased justice and morals."

"Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Bruce interjected once more only for Tony, who was just walking through the doors with Coulson to answer his question.

"It's a stabilizing agent," He then murmured something to Coulson who nodded with a smile before returning his attention back to the tense group, "Means, the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." He then tapped Thor on his bicep as he walked passed him to the monitors, "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

Guinevere sighed deeply, "Your point, Stark?"

"Easy there Puss in Boots, I was getting to that," He smirked before tapping the screen and turning to the group, "Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." Tony then looked around the room to the busy agents, "Uh, raise the mid-mast, jib, topsails." The room fell into bewildered silence at his words before Tony's eyes caught a man at the far end of the room, "That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." He then covered his left eye before looking around the room, "How does Fury see these?"

"He turns," Maria Hill, who had been standing off to the side of the room throughout the length of the discussion, answered as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her blue eyes watching the genius with thinly veiled annoyance.

Tony only scoffed, "Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density," He explained as he pressed buttons on the screens as if bringing up what he was speaking of, Guinevere watched him carefully as his hand slid down the side of one of the monitors and he snapped his hands together to draw attention away from the previous movement, "something to kick start the cube."

She had to smirk at the antics. Stark was certainly a genius and if he was not his own boss she was sure he'd make an excellent S.H.I.E.L.D agent for he was easily able to talk anyone under a table to distract people from what he was actually doing. She could not help but admire him for it. When he met her eyes she nodded her head, hiding the smirk that threatened to split into a smile and she subtly gestured to her lips being sealed.

Maria scoffed, "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night." He retorted with as much sass as Stark was known for, Maria only frowned in confusion and he sighed, "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular power source?"

Bruce sighed, turning to Steve to answer his question, "He'd have to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier."

"Unless," Tony continued, "Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect."

Bruce scoffed, "Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

Tony smiled, "Finally, someone who speaks English!"

"Is that what just happened?"

Guinevere frowned, "Unfortunately," she began breaking the happy moment between Bruce and Tony, "if he's gotten his hands on the iridium then he's already going to be that much closer to completing _everything_ you just spoke about."

"Hey, who knew Puss in Boots understood science jargon!"

"My father is a well known bioengineer, Tony." She shrugged, "I'm used to hearing it."

Banner accepted the handshake from Tony, the genius removing his glasses as he did so and offering the doctor a genuine look of respect, "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Um…thanks."

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube." Fury enforced as he walked into the room, his eye on Stark, "I was hoping you might join him."

Steve frowned, "Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube…" He then turned his eye to Guinevere, his glare scathing, "something our _consultant_ didn't feel fit to share."

"Firstly, you didn't ask." She rebuked with a scowl, "Secondly, I had no way of knowing it was directly linked to the cube until I got a good look at it."

"How'd you figure that?"

She turned her eyes to Bruce and sighed, "I took the blast from the _scepter_," she emphasized at Steve who ignored her, "to see if my theory was right. As it turns out, the blast immediately attempted to disintegrate anything that was of human composition – meaning me. If I hadn't used my magic to prevent the burn from spreading, I'd probably be dead at this point."

Fury frowned, "You looking to get out of this agreement that easily?"

"I'm offended you think so little of me and my character," She commented dryly. "I'd rather have taken the blast then let Steve here get hit and him not be here to talk about it. As unusual as my own magical prowess is concerned I can't heal other people very well. It only really ever works on me. So, on that note, if any of you desperately wish to speak to me, which I hope you don't, I'll be in my room." She did not wait for a dismissal as she turned abruptly on her heel and walked out of the room.

She was angry that they seemed to turn everything against her. Sure, Guinevere had not been entirely honest with them up to this point, but she could not make theories about the Tesseract if it could potentially endanger any of the gathered heroes. It was not that she cared about them, no, it was far too soon to be making such bonds with a group she wanted nothing to do with. But one thing that she could not live with was putting innocents in danger and if she told them everything she knew about the universe and its workings she would have done just that.

There were rules to her magic. While she could mention it, she could not explain how it worked in fear of someone inexperienced and without the ability to hurt themselves or the general public. There were aspects that she had to keep hidden from them and it was not because she was attempting to get over on them by any means, it was because if they attempted anything she was capable of, they'd only kill themselves. With a sigh of frustration, Guinevere made her way back to her room only to stop as Natasha's and Steve's words echoed through her head.

They had accused her of defending Loki.

While she had not intentionally been aiming to defend his character, she had. Originally her only the intention was setting Thor straight. She had been on the receiving end of people defending her to one group and then enforcing the words of another and it was an injustice that Guinevere was intolerant of. They had alluded that he was a monster and while she could not argue that sentiment, she knew there was something else going on and something that normal people, the people back on the bridge, had overlooked. With a frown set on her lips she changed her direction, heading to the detention level as opposed to the living quarters.

As she arrived she looked down at the keypad, confused as to why there were no guards at this door and she concluded it was probably the fear of more S.H.I.E.L.D members falling under the Asgardian's mind control, something she doubted he was actually capable of without the use of the scepter, but did not put it passed him as she had felt an unusual brushing of another's mind against her own as Loki had been escorted passed the lab earlier and as a reaction she had slammed down hard on her mental shields. Shaking the thought, she observed the keypad and quickly imputed a set of numbers that looked to be the most worn and smirked as the door opened before her. The detention level was empty and silent, the only sound was the door sliding closed and bolting behind her before everything once again fell silent. After a few moments of standing still she moved, her boots making barely a whisper against the steel catwalk that led her to the room where she knew she would find Loki.

From the archway she observed as he paced the length of his cell, stopping however, when he seemed to spot her in the archway. She had leaned against the doorframe in her observation, her eyes having followed his form right to the point of his halt.

"Come to visit me?"

"You would like me to say yes, wouldn't you?" She commented lightly as she pushed off of the doorframe and walked further into the room. She did not speak as she stopped just before his cell, her hazel eyes appraising his form. He was tall, probably even in height as Thor, but leaner. His face was sculpted in sharp angles as if he had been chiseled from stone and was a flourish of art rather than a would-be god. His inky black hair was a stark contrast to the smooth alabaster of his skin, a near contrast between night and day, if Guinevere were to use an appropriate metaphor. His clothing made him look stockier than she figured he was, having been in close quarters with him during the fight. His clothing was simple, yet elaborate, with multiple patterns and use of cotton and leather, the stitching on both careful and clearly well done. It was garb fit for royalty and Guinevere could not place why it made her feel so suddenly nostalgic, as if she was being reminded of a time in her life that was long since forgotten. She then met his gaze, finding that he seemed to have been appraising her as well, to see that there were hints of green in his eyes that were not there when they first detained him, though the milky film still remained on the outer rim of his iris.

Loki's sudden chuckle disrupted her observations and he smirked down at her, his pale lips parting to show well kept teeth, "You like what you see?"

"I've seen better," Guinevere commented lightly, smirking when he seemed slightly stricken by her tone. "But I'm not here to flatter your good looks."

"Then, pray tell, why have you come?"

She could easily detect the dangerousness that just barely hit the edge of his light baritone, his voice like smooth velvet, but with a twinge of gravel that made him dodgy. She collected herself quickly, her arms crossing over her chest, "To see what others claim you to be."

"And what would that be?" He questioned with an edge that Guinevere could not rightfully put an emotion to, "A murderer?"

"A monster, actually."

Loki flinched away from the word, his recoil almost visible, yet controlled as he used the movement to turn away from her, as if he intended on resuming his pacing. He could tell she was observant and that she was certainly intelligent. He suddenly recalled her words upon the cliff while his brother – _Thor_ – was fighting the heroes who had detained him. "Ah, your strength in wit is prevalent. Is this what you meant back on that cliff then?"

She paused and Loki watched her carefully, "Yes and no. I'm an academic by nature, I prefer books over people and don't enjoy blundering around my strengths…nor am I manipulated easily. I suppose I should thank my superior intellect on my magical awareness."

_Ah, so the real reason why she is here emerges_, he thought to himself with a sly grin. Her face betrayed nothing, but he could tell there was a riddle hidden within her words. He suddenly realized that she had seen something that the others had not noticed. Perhaps this would help him rather than hurt him. "You waste your time then."

"Do I?" He watched her carefully once more, hoping that she seemed to pick up on his meaning. "I question no more than what is presented to me at any given time. I've been accused of defending your character just twenty minutes ago and I'd like to see if there is any worth to that unknowing defense."

Guinevere knew immediately that there were a series of double meanings to his words and it was something she was willing to work with as she knew there was something off about the god. She made a mental note to ask Thor at a later time about Loki and see if there was anything she was missing about his physical appearance, his eyes being at the top of that list. "I'll admit, this is a dangerous game you're playing…it can result in either your failure, as I mentioned to you back in Stuttgart, or it can result in your _freedom_."

"A perceptive little relic aren't you?"

"I have a name."

He smirked at the bite in her tone, "But I prefer mine so much more."

"If I were to use the name I'd prefer to call you it wouldn't be anything particularly kind," She remarked icily. "I suggest you begin using my name or I'll begin the long list of names I've come up with for you over the last few hours." With her brows furrowed and her arms crossed she looked more like a mother reprimanding her child rather than a woman of authority speaking to a criminal, the idea amusing Loki more than he wanted it to, but he did little to hide that amusement from her in hopes to irritate her and smirking to himself when she blew a stream of air out of her nose almost violently. "Look, I don't profess to be the most moral of people, but if you work with these people we could end up helping you…I'm sure Thor would be elated to –"

"Oh this is _rich_." He snarled, cutting her off and watching as her eyes flashed amber for a split second, "You come to me _professing_ that you question no more than what is, that you've been accused of defending my _character_ and wondering, foolishly, if there was anything worth that defense." He watched as her lips thinned, in annoyance or fear he could not tell, however, he did know that she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. "Do not be so fast to judge one by their actions when it is something that is _worth_ fighting for. Your kind crave subjugation, crave the feeling of being told what to do and when it is appropriate to do it. You believe, because you are a _relic_ that you are not tempted nor controlled by these variables. You, a Familiar, _serve_ those with magic that is far out of your league and yet you still attempt to resist the inevitable."

Guinevere frowned deeply, "I do not need to resist anything that is not a temptation to me. And if you think you can rule a whole _world_ of _people_ that number in the _billions_ as a supreme being then you are more of a fool than I originally thought." Her eyes were beginning to change and she could feel the shift occurring as her eyesight sharpened nearly picking up the very fine details of his skin, the small scar that peeked out of his hairline by his ear along his temple, the scar that was unnoticeable to any who were not close to him on his brow, and the other one on the side of his jaw line, hidden by the light. She could tell that the change was both amusing him and concerning to him as she was an unpredictable agent. She was thankful for her higher form of magic to other Familiars as it gave her an advantage when dealing with other magic users, though that was rare nowadays. "Beings such as you, you _users_, always believe that the universe is dictated by higher orders of the most powerful to the least powerful like it's some kind of magical food chain. The fact of the matter is, I don't know what you plan on doing, how you plan on leading your army here to Earth, but I can be sure of one thing. You fight, you will lose; try and hurt the world that I am from and hurt those who I care about and I _will not hesitate _to kill you…even if it means me going down with you."

Loki only smirked, "In time you will see that I am more than right, little relic. You will come to find that the people you so cared about, that you fought to defend your world with, will turn their backs on you and leave you for dead." His voice, while sultry and as smooth as velvet, mocking of concern for her well being, was toned upon condescension and a guttural prowess that nearly left her squirming in fear beneath the stare in his unearthly blue eyes, "It is human nature; a selfish nature that ensures that only the self is unharmed, is nurtured and is preserved. Honor means nothing, sentiment _means nothing_. You will be nothing more than a broken tool in the end. Mark my words."

"_Miss Havoc_." The copper-haired Familiar did not move her eyes from Loki's as she stood, glaring at him, as the PA system addressed her and Stark's voice came over the intercom. "_Miss Havoc we need you in the lab…Now._"

"Copy."

She frowned; lips pressed together as she turned from the raven-haired god and exited the room that was holding the criminal, making her way through the detention level where she was met by Tony. The billionaire only spared her a glance before motioning that they move to the lab. After a few moments of silence, and Guinevere brooding, Tony deemed the silence annoying earning a glower from the young woman. "You know, if I didn't know any better, Puss in Boots, I'd say that you're more complicated than the Capsicle and Big Red combined."

"You know, Tin-man, if _I_ didn't know any better, I'd say that you make these annoying nicknames up just to satisfy a childhood need of pissing off your friends. Kinda like how your parents explain how crushes in Pre-K work. If the boy is mean to you, it means he likes you."

Tony guffawed, "You're really something, kid. I like you."

"Oh, that's a relief," She commented dryly. "I wasn't aware that this was a popularity contest."

"You knew I hacked the systems and you didn't say anything about it, you're clear in my book."

She smirked, "As far as I'm concerned, Stark, neither of us owe S.H.I.E.L.D anything. Neither of us are exactly willing to help S.H.I.E.L.D and we're both equally suspicious. I believe this is grounds for anyone to be trusted."

"I don't trust S.H.I.E.L.D and I can see why you don't either." When her brow quirked he smirked, "I saw the footage of your _detainment_. The cat-change thing you do would technically classify you as a mutant you know."

"So I've been told in the past. My father, _concerned over my health_," She sneered coolly, "took me to Xavier's school of mutants or whatever to get me tested. I'm a purely magical relic, a Familiar, nothing more and nothing less."

"So you're not going to be growing any extra limbs any time soon right?"

Guinevere offered him a deadpanned expression, "Not likely." The two passed the bridge and the copper-haired woman stopped briefly as she noticed Thor standing along the wide bay window and she felt a sudden urge to speak with him. Her need seemed to be apparent as Tony nudged her side, drawing her attention to him.

"Go. We don't need you in the lab right now…that and I think the big guy could use someone to talk to that actually gets what he's saying."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," He commented with a shrug to her smile, "Seriously. Don't mention it."

Guinevere waved him off before stepping into the bridge, ignoring the eyes of the agents before coming to stand at the god of Thunder's left. "You know," She began briefly as her eyes stared out at the expanse of black that the night sky provided, stars blinking further into the distance and drawing Thor's eyes to her slight form, "When I was really little…I'd look up into the sky every night and wonder about what lay beyond our atmosphere. What creatures there were and were they like me or vastly different?" Thanks to her animal instincts she was a great judge of how someone was feeling and she could sense the turmoil setting beneath the taut flesh and wound muscles of Thor's large arms and clenched jaw. "And then I discovered that I was extraterrestrial, a mere relic destined to serve those with power…I was resentful…jealous even." She watched the behemoth carefully via his reflection in the window, carefully assessing his expression, "But…as time went on I realized that my purpose isn't only to serve beings with more power than myself, but to act as a comrade, a friend, a confident and a protector. It is difficult though, growing up on a planet that suggests everything that I am is blasphemy of the highest order."

Thor remained silent next to her and her brow quirked. From what she had gathered thus far, the blonde Asgardian enjoyed speaking, to revel in the conversation and attentions others presented him with. His silence was not only strange to her, but it was concerning. He struck her as someone who could be dangerous to himself and others if left to think and fixate on a particular thought for too long. She was unsure how correct her instincts were, but she could tell that his mere presence upon the bridge, more for a lack of anywhere to go rather than by his choice alone, was discomforting to the S.H.I.E.L.D agents that were surrounding them. Their eyes drifted every so often to the pair of them and she immediately sympathized with the large off-world man. She was broken from her thoughts as Thor heaved a deep sigh, his eyes becoming downcast and his posture nearly slouching from the regal posture he had exhibited up until that very moment.

"You are wise beyond your years," Thor's deep baritone seemed to rumble, like the thunder of an approaching storm. It was not an unpleasant sound, in fact, Guinevere found his voice comforting to a degree as it expressed that he was a being of age that went far beyond herself and reminded her of herself all at the same time. "You appear young, yet I sense an age about you that is incomprehensible to those of Midgard."

She smiled slightly, "I've been told the same thing many times before, Thor, you are not the first to say such."

"Forgive me, as I am not very good company at present."

"You just found out your brother is trying to take over a world that has no quarrel or even knowledge of anything outside of our small bubble…I can understand your plight."

Thor glanced at her and frowned, "Yet you seem to know much."

"I've spent most of my life sitting in front of books; hundreds, upon thousands of books, in hopes of understanding what I am and why I'm so different from others of my kind…why I feel as if I should be separated from the rest," She sighed softly, her arms crossing over her chest in a more relaxed expression and the god could tell that it was her own defense mechanism. He could read that she was uncomfortable delving into this aspect of her character, but was attempting for his sake and it was not unappreciated. "I've found more than a fair share about other worlds through the tales recorded by those who have lived thousands of years ago. Mythology and fallen civilizations say much about what has occurred in the past and also say much about what could happen in the future…Nostradamus is notably one of the most influential in this aspect, but I digress."

"You know Nostradamus?"

Guinevere laughed, "Not him personally, but of him yes."

Thor shared in her humor with a smile of his own, his arms remaining crossed across his chest, though his look appearing far away suddenly, "I have spent most of my years courting war and now that I am forced into this one, with the hope of saving your world from the horrors of mine and the hope that I can save what little is left of my brother, I feel as though time is fighting against me…I wish it to slow, yet it continues to speed on."

"Well, it is a saying that we use here on Earth that dictates that Time waits for no one…I've never considered our more modern day colloquiums to be appropriate, but this is one that most certainly stands to be true." Thor merely looked down at her before returning his gaze out of the window before them. "I went to see him," She began suddenly, "Loki, I mean."

"Why would you do this?"

"I…wanted to prove something and was met with nothing." She collected her thoughts before turning to Thor with a frown, "Thor, what can you tell me of Asgard…other Asgardians and of Loki…?"

Thor's brow quirked in disbelief, though she could detect the joy of her interest in knowing of him and the worlds outside of her own, "You wish to know everything?"

"Well," She smiled sheepishly, "anything you'd be willing to disclose."

"Then I will start with the basics, on Asgard we call ourselves _Æsir_…though many other races do refer to us as Asgardians."

"_Æsir_," The word sounded strange on her tongue, but she decided that she did not mind it and at the Norse deity's nod of approval she could tell that she had not completely butchered the pronunciation, a small victory in her book. She then looked up at him again with her brows furrowed in confusion, "You say other races? I've read quite a lot about worlds that are quite different than Earth, but those merely come from fiction. Surely they do not exist also?"

Thor chuckled, again the sound reminding the Familiar of rumbling thunder, "Aye, they do."

"Wow…" She drew out with a long breath, "Historians and astronomers alike are going to go ballistic."

"Tell me of what you know and I shall try and clarify the finer details."

Guinevere nodded and launched into a long explanation of what she knew of Norse mythology that had been documented on Earth and about races she had read about in fiction. Thor clarifying points here and there and giving her truth to theories that were not at all elaborated on, which Guinevere assumed was because those details were not known at the time of their documentation. She was amazed by how willing Thor was to give her the information and also how he explained each point. He did not assume she was unintelligent, though it was clear he enjoyed embellishing certain stories for more entertainment's sake rather than to give her an unrealistic view of each thing she mentioned. He was great company, and Guinevere soon found herself relaxing her stance next to him and enjoying her conversation all of the same. She concluded that Thor was genuine, much more than Loki was, and she could understand Loki's slights and why he would be jealous of his older brother. Thor demanded attention in a conversation and did not allow his listener to drift off for too long and while Guinevere did not mind his company, she also found him to be rather overbearing, especially when she spoke of what she knew of Odin, his father. The conversation soon drifted to Loki and Guinevere was unable to resist asking questions, specifically about how he and Thor grew up before moving into his appearances. She considered all he said and nodded to the stories that he told, laughing where appropriate, but her thoughts had become otherwise occupied. After the long conversation a silence fell between the god and Familiar and finally the blonde behemoth sighed deeply.

"I have considered your words from earlier this night…"

"Please tell me that I did not offend you," She sighed softly. "It was not my intention to slight you; I was merely…reminded of my own predicament."

Thor offered her a small smile, a strange look on his face as he appeared to be someone who was meant for large grins, "You did not, merely strengthened my resolve to help Loki in some way. Not many blindly defend one that they do not know and it was…refreshing to have one stand up for my brother other than myself."

"I don't know why, but something seems off about him."

"Off?"

"I could be wrong, but me being a Familiar gives me primitive animal instincts. That accompanied by my own magic gives me a heightened sense of when something is…not quite right and I'm unable to put my finger on what it is exactly, but there is something that is being overlooked about this whole situation and I am not comforted in the slightest about what it could be."

Thor nodded slightly, though his brows furrowed tightly over his cerulean gaze, "I will be sure to ponder on this, thank you Lady Guinevere…"

"Um," She began with a deep flush blanketing her cheeks with embarrassment, "Guinevere or Gwen will do just fine Thor, and thank you." Finally a yawn stretched at her jaw and she sighed deeply, "I will leave you to your thoughts…if you need me, I will be in my room or the lab."

"Fare thee well, my lady. I hope to see you on the morrow."

Guinevere only chuckled, "I as well, Thor, goodnight." With a fluid pivot on her heel she removed herself from the bridge and began the trek back to her room. She did not miss the looks that the other agents sent her nor the hesitant twitch of their hands to the guns. Her brow furrowed at this, but she otherwise did not comment, however, made note to speak to Fury in the morning. As she opened her bedroom door she frowned at the way the air seemed to move, alerting her to something being off and so she decided the lab would be where she would spend her night under the watchful, yet friendly gazes of Bruce and Tony.

* * *

Yay another chapter done! I actually do enjoy Thor's character - though despite him being a lovable idiot in _Thor_, I found his character in _The Avengers_ to be much more serious, so I hope I hit that the right way :) A lot of information about Guinevere here, yes, as well as a few subtle hints to the future plot. Just a warning - I won't really be going into much detail about _Thor: The Dark World _in this story as I'd like to alter parts of the original cannon to my use for my own plot later in the fic. For those who are curious about why I started in the middle of the Invasion instead of jumping right into my own plot, I did so to explain why and how Guinevere knows the Avengers and came to know Loki without it being already assumed without explanation. I know it's annoying to read cannon you already know, but I promise it's a necessary evil :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and remember, **Reviews are lovely and appreciated, but not mandatory for an update** :) Peace, love and happiness my fellow readers and please take some time out to R&R ;) Free virtual Loki plushies if you do :3

Much Love,  
Meg


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